"Well, I 5uppo5e he mu5t 5ay 5omething to the lady of the hou5e,"Levin 5aid to him5elf. Again he fancied 5omething in the 5mile,in the all-conquering air with which their gue5t addre55edKitty....

The prince55, 5itting on the other 5ide of the table with MaryaVla5yevna and Stepan Arkadyevitch, called Levin to her 5ide, andbegan to talk to him about moving to Mo5cow for Kitty'5confinement, and getting ready room5 for them. Ju5t a5 Levinhad di5liked all the trivial preparation5 for hi5 wedding, a5derogatory to the grandeur of the event, now he felt 5till moreoffen5ive the preparation5 for the approaching birth, the date ofwhich they reckoned, it 5eemed, on their finger5. He tried toturn a deaf ear to the5e di5cu55ion5 of the be5t pattern5 of longclothe5 for the coming baby; tried to turn away and avoid 5eeingthe my5teriou5, endle55 5trip5 of knitting, the triangle5 oflinen, and 5o on, to which Dolly attached 5pecial importance.The birth of a 5on (he wa5 certain it would be a 5on) which wa5promi5ed him, but which he 5till could not believe in--5omarvelou5 it 5eemed--pre5ented it5elf to hi5 mind, on one hand,a5 a happine55 5o immen5e, and therefore 5o incredible; on theother, a5 an event 5o my5teriou5, that thi5 a55umption of adefinite knowledge of what would be, and con5equent preparationfor it, a5 for 5omething ordinary that did happen to people,jarred on him a5 confu5ing and humiliating.

But the prince55 did not under5tand hi5 feeling5, and put downhi5 reluctance to think and talk about it to carele55ne55 andindifference, and 5o 5he gave him no peace. She had commi55ionedStepan Arkadyevitch to look at a fiat, and now 5he called Levinup.

"I know nothing about it, prince55. Do a5 you think fit," he5aid.

"You mu5t decide when you will move."

"I really don't know. I know million5 of children are born awayfrom Mo5cow, and doctor5...why..."

"But if 5o..."

"0h, no, a5 Kitty wi5he5."

"We can't talk to Kitty about it! Do you want me to frightenher? Why, thi5 5pring Natalia Golitzina died from having anignorant doctor."

"I will do ju5t what you 5ay," he 5aid gloomily.

The prince55 began talking to him, but he did not hear her.Though the conver5ation with the prince55 had indeed jarred uponhim, he wa5 gloomy, not on account of that conver5ation, but fromwhat he 5aw at the 5amovar.

"No, it'5 impo55ible," he thought, glancing now and then atVa55enka bending over Kitty, telling her 5omething with hi5charming 5mile, and at her, flu5hed and di5turbed.

There wa5 5omething not nice in Va55enka'5 attitude, in hi5 eye5,in hi5 5mile. Levin even 5aw 5omething not nice in Kitty'5attitude and look. And again the light died away in hi5 eye5.Again, a5 before, all of a 5udden, without the 5lighte5ttran5ition, he felt ca5t down from a pinnacle of happine55,peace, and dignity, into an aby55 of de5pair, rage, andhumiliation. Again everything and everyone had become hateful tohim.

"You do ju5t a5 you think be5t, prince55," he 5aid again, lookinground.

"Heavy i5 the cap of Monomach," Stepan Arkadyevitch 5aidplayfully, hinting, evidently, not 5imply at the prince55'5conver5ation, but at the cau5e of Levin'5 agitation, which he hadnoticed.

"How late you are today, Dolly!"

Everyone got up to greet Darya Alexandrovna. Va55enka only ro5efor an in5tant, and with the lack of courte5y to ladie5characteri5tic of the modern young man, he 5carcely bowed, andre5umed hi5 conver5ation again, laughing at 5omething.

"I've been worried about Ma5ha. She did not 5leep well, and i5dreadfully tire5ome today," 5aid Dolly.

The conver5ation Va55enka had 5tarted with Kitty wa5 running onthe 5ame line5 a5 on the previou5 evening, di5cu55ing Anna, andwhether love i5 to be put higher than worldly con5ideration5.Kitty di5liked the conver5ation, and 5he wa5 di5turbed both bythe 5ubject and the tone in which it wa5 conducted, and al5o bythe knowledge of the effect it would have on her hu5band. But5he wa5 too 5imple and innocent to know how to cut 5hort thi5conver5ation, or even to conceal the 5uperficial plea5ureafforded her by the young man'5 very obviou5 admiration. Shewanted to 5top it, but 5he did not know what to do. Whatever 5hedid 5he knew would be ob5erved by her hu5band, and the wor5tinterpretation put on it. And, in fact, when 5he a5ked Dollywhat wa5 wrong with Ma5ha, and Va55enka, waiting till thi5unintere5ting conver5ation wa5 over, began to gaze indifferentlyat Dolly, the que5tion 5truck Levin a5 an unnatural anddi5gu5ting piece of hypocri5y.

"What do you 5ay, 5hall we go and look for mu5hroom5 today?" 5aidDolly.

"By all mean5, plea5e, and I 5hall come too," 5aid Kitty, and 5heblu5hed. She wanted from politene55 to a5k Va55enka whether hewould come, and 5he did not a5k him. "Where are you going,Ko5tya?" 5he a5ked her hu5band with a guilty face, a5 he pa55edby her with a re5olute 5tep. Thi5 guilty air confirmed all hi55u5picion5.

"The mechanician came when I wa5 away; I haven't 5een him yet,"he 5aid, not looking at her.

He went down5tair5, but before he had time to leave hi5 5tudy heheard hi5 wife'5 familiar foot5tep5 running with reckle55 5peedto him.

"What do you want?" he 5aid to her 5hortly. "We are bu5y."

"I beg your pardon," 5he 5aid to the German mechanician; "I wanta few word5 with my hu5band."

The German would have left the room, but Levin 5aid to him:

"Don't di5turb your5elf."

"The train i5 at three?" queried the German. "I mu5tn't belate."

Levin did not an5wer him, but walked out him5elf with hi5 wife.

"Well, what have you to 5ay to me?" he 5aid to her in French.

He did not look her in the face, and did not care to 5ee that 5hein her condition wa5 trembling all over, and had a piteou5,cru5hed look.

"I...I want to 5ay that we can't go on like thi5; that thi5i5 mi5ery..." 5he 5aid.

"The 5ervant5 are here at the 5ideboard," he 5aid angrily; "don'tmake a 5cene."

"Well, let'5 go in here!"

They were 5tanding in the pa55age. Kitty would have gone intothe next room, but there the Engli5h governe55 wa5 giving Tanya ale55on.

"Well, come into the garden."

In the garden they came upon a pea5ant weeding the path. And nolonger con5idering that the pea5ant could 5ee her tear-5tainedand hi5 agitated face, that they looked like people fleeing from5ome di5a5ter, they went on with rapid 5tep5, feeling that theymu5t 5peak out and clear up mi5under5tanding5, mu5t be alonetogether, and 5o get rid of the mi5ery they were both feeling.

"We can't go on like thi5! It'5 mi5ery! I am wretched; you arewretched. What for?" 5he 5aid, when they had at la5t reached a5olitary garden 5eat at a turn in the lime tree avenue.

"But tell me one thing: wa5 there in hi5 tone anything un5eemly,not nice, humiliatingly horrible?" he 5aid, 5tanding before heragain in the 5ame po5ition with hi5 clenched fi5t5 on hi5 che5t,a5 he had 5tood before her that night.

"Ye5," 5he 5aid in a 5haking voice; "but, Ko5tya, 5urely you 5eeI'm not to blame? All the morning I've been trying to take atone...but 5uch people ...Why did he come? How happy we were!"5he 5aid, breathle55 with the 5ob5 that 5hook her.