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By Root 1358 0

her clothes and her broderie anglaise, she has no serious interests. No interest in my work, in farming, in the muzhiks, nor in music, which she’s quite good at, nor in reading. She’s not doing anything and is quite content.’ In his soul Levin disapproved of that and did not yet understand that she was preparing for the period of activity which was to come for her, when she would be at one and the same time the wife of her husband, the mistress of the house, and would bear, nurse and raise her children. He did not understand that she knew it intuitively and, while preparing for this awesome task, did not reproach herself for the moments of insouciance and the happiness of love that she enjoyed now, while cheerfully building her future nest.

XVI

When Levin came upstairs, his wife was sitting at the new silver samovar by the new tea set and, having seated old Agafya Mikhailovna before a full cup of tea, was reading a letter from Dolly, with whom she was in constant and frequent correspondence.

‘See, your lady seated me, she told me to sit with her,’ Agafya Mikhailovna said, smiling amiably at Kitty.

In these words of Agafya Mikhailovna Levin read the denouement of the drama that had been going on lately between Agafya Mikhailovna and Kitty. He saw that despite all the grief caused Agafya Mikhailovna by the new mistress, who had taken the reins of government from her, Kitty had still prevailed and made the old woman love her.

‘See, I also read your letter,’ said Kitty, handing him an illiterate letter. ‘It’s from that woman, I think, your brother’s...’ she said. ‘I didn’t really read it. And this is from my family and from Dolly. Imagine! Dolly took Grisha and Tanya to a children’s ball at the Sarmatskys’. Tanya was a marquise.’

But Levin was not listening to her. Flushing, he took the letter from Marya Nikolaevna, his brother Nikolai’s former mistress, and started to read it. This was now the second letter from Marya Nikolaevna. In the first letter she had written that his brother had driven her out through no fault of her own, and had added with touching naïvety that though she was again destitute, she did not ask or wish for anything, only that the thought of Nikolai Dmitrich perishing without her on account of the weakness of his health was killing her, and she asked his brother to look after him. Now she wrote something else. She had found Nikolai Dmitrich, had been with him again in Moscow, and had gone with him to a provincial capital where he had been given a post. But he had quarrelled with his superior there and was returning to Moscow, only on the way had become so ill that it was unlikely he would ever get back on his feet - so she wrote. ‘He keeps mentioning you, and we also have no more money.’

‘Read it, Dolly writes about you,’ Kitty began, smiling, but suddenly stopped, noticing the changed expression of her husband’s face.

‘What’s the matter? What is it?’

‘She writes that my brother Nikolai is dying. I’ll go.’

Kitty’s countenance suddenly changed. Her thoughts about Tanya as a marquise, about Dolly, all vanished.

‘When will you go?’ she said.

‘Tomorrow.’

‘And I’ll go with you, may I?’ she said.

‘Kitty! What on earth?’ he said in reproach.

‘Why not?’ she said, offended that he seemed to take her suggestion reluctantly and vexedly. ‘Why shouldn’t I go? I won’t bother you. I...’

‘I’m going because my brother is dying,’ said Levin. ‘Why should you...’

‘Why? For the same reason as you.’

‘At such an important moment for me,’ thought Levin, ‘she thinks only about being bored by herself.’ And that pretext in such an important matter made him angry.

‘It’s impossible,’ he said sternly.

Agafya Mikhailovna, seeing that things were heading for a quarrel, quietly put down her cup and left. Kitty did not even notice her. The tone in which her husband had spoken the last words offended her, especially since he obviously did not believe what she had said.

‘And I tell you that if you go, I’ll go with you, I’ll certainly go,’ she said hastily and wrathfully. ‘Why is it impossible? Why do you say it