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SIXTY-NINE

 

 

Chapter 19

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LEFT alone, Dolly surveyed the room with a housewife’s eye. All she saw when driving up to the house and passing through it, and now in her room, gave her the impression of abundance and elegance and of that novel European luxury which she had read about in English novels, but had never yet seen in Russia in the country. Everything was new, from the new French wall-papers to the carpet which covered the whole floor. The bed had a spring and an overlay mattress, with a specially shaped bolster and small pillows with silk slips. The marble washstand, the dressing-table, the couch, the tables, the bronze clock on the mantelpiece, the curtains and door-hangings were all costly and new. The smart lady’s maid with hair stylishly done, and wearing a dress more fashionable than Dolly’s who came to offer her services, was as new and expensive as everything else in the room. Dolly found her politeness, tidiness, and attention pleasant, but did not feel at ease with her; she was ashamed to let her see the patched dressing-jacket, which as ill-luck would have it she had brought by mistake. She was ashamed of the very patches and darns on which she at home prided herself. At home it was clear that six jackets required twenty-four arshins of nainsook at sixty-five kopeks, which comes to more than fifteen roubles, besides the trimmings and the work; and she had saved all that. But before the maid she felt not exactly ashamed but uncomfortable.

 

Dolly felt much relieved when Annushka, whom she had known a long time, came into the room. The smart maid had to go to her mistress, and Annushka remained with Dolly.

 

Annushka was evidently very pleased that the lady had come, and chattered incessantly. Dolly noticed that she wanted to express her opinion of her mistress’s position, and especially of the Count’s love of and devotion to Anna, but Dolly carefully stopped her whenever she began to speak about that subject.

 

‘I grew up with Anna Arkadyevna; she is dearer to me than anything. Is it for us to judge? And how he seems to love . . .’

 

‘Well then, have this washed if possible,’ interrupted Dolly.

 

‘Yes, ma’am! We have two women always specially kept for washing small things, and the clothes are all done with a machine. The Count goes into everything himself. What a husband . . .’

 

Dolly was glad when Anna came in and thereby put an end to Annushka’s chatter.

 

Anna had changed into a very simple lawn dress. Dolly looked carefully at this simple dress. She knew what such simplicity meant and cost.

 

‘An old acquaintance,’ said Anna, pointing to Annushka.

 

Anna was now no longer embarrassed. She was free and at her ease. Dolly saw that she had quite got over the impression produced by her arrival, and had adopted a superficial tone of equanimity which seemed to close the door that led to the compartment where her feelings and intimate thoughts were kept.

 

‘Well, and how is your little girl, Anna?’ asked Dolly.

 

‘Annie?’ (so she called her daughter Anna). ‘Quite well. Greatly improved. Would you like to see her? Come, I’ll show her to you. . . . I’ve had such trouble with the nurses,’ she began. ‘We had an Italian wet nurse for her. Good, but so stupid! We wanted to send her back, but the child is so used to her that we are still keeping her.’

 

‘Well, and how have you arranged. . . ?’ Dolly began, meaning to ask what name the little girl would bear; but seeing a sudden frown on Anna’s face she changed the question and said: ‘How have you arranged? Have you already weaned her?’

 

But Anna had understood.

 

‘That is not what you were going to ask? . . . You wished to ask about her name? Am I not right? It troubles Alexis. She has no name. That is, her name is Karenina,’ said Anna, screwing up her eyes till only the meeting lashes could be seen. ‘However, we will talk about all that later,’ said she, suddenly brightening. ‘Come! I will show her to you. Elle est très gentile [She is very sweet], and can crawl already.’

 

In the nursery the luxury noticeable in the rest of the house struck Dolly still more strongly. Here were perambulators ordered from England, an apparatus to teach a baby to walk, a specially constructed piece of furniture like a billiard-table for the baby to crawl on, swings, and baths of a new special kind. All these were English, strongly made, of good quality, and evidently very expensive. The room was large, very lofty and light.

 

When they entered the little girl was sitting in her chemise in a little arm-chair at a table, having her dinner of broth which she was spilling all over her little chest. A Russian nursemaid was feeding the child and evidently herself eating also. Neither the wet nurse nor the head nurse were to be seen: they were in the next room, where one could hear them talking in a peculiar French, the only tongue in which they could converse.

 

On hearing Anna’s voice a smart tall Englishwoman with an unpleasant face and an impure look came into the room, rapidly shaking her fair curls, and at once began excusing herself, though Anna had not accused her of anything. To each word of Anna’s the Englishwoman quickly repeated, ‘Yes, my lady!’ several times.

 

The dark-browed, dark-haired, rosy little girl, with her firm ruddy little body covered with gooseflesh, pleased Dolly very much, despite the severe expression with which she regarded the new visitor; she even felt a little envious of the child’s healthy appearance. The way the little girl crawled also greatly pleased Dolly. Not one of her children had crawled like that. The baby looked wonderfully sweet when she was put down on the carpet, with her little frock tucked up behind. Glancing round at the grown-up people with her large radiant black eyes, like a little animal, evidently pleased that she was being admired, she smiled, and turning out her feet, energetically supported herself on her hands, drew her lower limbs forward, and then again advanced her hands.

 

But Dolly did not at all like the general atmosphere of that nursery, especially the English nurse. Only by the fact that a nice woman would not have accepted a post in such an irregular household as Anna’s could Dolly explain to herself how Anna, with her knowledge of character, could have engaged for her little girl such an unpleasant and fast Englishwoman. Besides that, from a few words she heard, Dolly at once understood that Anna, the wet nurse, the head nurse, and the baby did not get on with one another, and that the mother’s appearance was not a usual occurrence. Anna wished to get the baby her toy and could not find it.

 

But the most astonishing thing was that when asked how many teeth the baby had, Anna made a mistake and knew nothing of the two latest teeth.

 

‘I feel it hard sometimes that I am as it were superfluous here,’ said Anna on leaving the nursery, lifting her train to avoid the toys that lay beside the door. ‘It was quite different with the first one.’

 

‘I thought — on the contrary,’ said Dolly timidly.

 

‘Oh no! You know I have seen him, Serezha,’ said Anna, screwing up her eyes as if peering at something far off. ‘However, we will talk about that afterwards. Would you believe it, I am just like a starving woman to whom a full meal has been served, and who does not know what to begin on first? The full meal is you and the talks I am going to have with you, and which I could not have with anyone else, and I don’t know on what to begin first! Mais je ne vous ferai grâce de rien! [But I shall not let you off anything!] I must speak out about everything. Yes, I must give you a sketch of the people you will meet here,’ she began. ‘I will begin with the woman: Princess Barbara. You know her, and I know your and Stiva’s opinion of her. Stiva says the one aim of her life is to prove her superiority to Aunt Catherine Pavlovna. That is quite true; but she is kind, and I am very grateful to her. There was a moment in Petersburg when I needed a chaperon. Just then she turned up. Really she is kind. She made my position much easier. I see you do not realize the difficulty of my position . . . there in Petersburg,’ she added. ‘Here I am quite tranquil and happy; but about that later on. I must continue the list. Then there’s Sviyazhsky: he is a Marshal of Nobility and a very decent fellow, but he wants something from Alexis. You see, with his means, now that we have settled in the country, Alexis can have great influence. Then there is Tushkevich: you have met him, he was always with Betsy. Now he has been deposed and has come to us. As Alexis says, he is one of those men who are very agreeable if one takes them for what they wish to appear, et puis, il est comme il faut [and then, he is good form], as the Princess Barbara says. Then there’s Veslovsky . . . you know him. He is a nice boy,’ she said, and a roguish smile puckered her lips. ‘What outrageous affair was that with Levin? Veslovsky told Alexis, and we simply can’t believe it. Il est très gentil et naïf [He is very nice and naïve],’ she added with the same smile. ‘Men need distraction, and Alexis needs an audience; so I value all this company. Things must be lively and amusing here, so that Alexis shall not wish for anything new! Then you will also see our steward. He is a German, very good, and knows his business. Alexis thinks highly of him. Then there’s the doctor, a young man, not exactly a Nihilist, but — you know, eats with his knife . . . but a very good doctor. Then there’s the architect . . . une petite cour! [a little court!]’

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 20

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‘WELL, here’s Dolly for you, Princess! You wanted so much to see her,’ said Anna as she and Dolly came out onto the large stone verandah where in the shade, before an embroidery frame, the Princess Barbara sat embroidering a cover for an easy-chair for Count Vronsky. ‘She says she won’t have anything before dinner, but will you order lunch? I’ll go and find Alexis and bring them all here.’

 

The Princess Barbara received Dolly affectionately but rather patronisingly, and at once began explaining that she was staying with Anna because she had always loved her more than did her sister Catherine Pavlovna, who had brought Anna up; and that now, when every one had thrown Anna over, she considered it her duty to help Anna through this transitional and most trying period.

 

‘Her husband will give her a divorce, and then I shall go back to my solitude; but at present I can be of use and I fulfil my duty, however hard it may be, not like others. . . . And how kind you are, and how well you have done to come! They live like the best of married couples. It is for God to judge them, not for us. Think of Biryuzovsky and Avenyeva. . . . And even Nikandrov! And how about Vasilyev with Mamonova, and Lisa Neptunova. . . ? No one said anything against them? And in the end they were all received again. . . . And then c’est un intérieur si joli, si comme il faut. Tout-à-fait à l’anglaise. On se réunit le matin au breakfast et puis on se sépare [it is such a pretty, such a refined home. Quite in the English style. We assemble for breakfast, and then we separate]. Every one does what he likes till dinner. Dinner is at seven. Stiva did very well to send you. He must keep in with them. You know, through his mother and brother he can do anything. And then they do much good. Has he not told you about his hospital? Ce sera admirable [It will be admirable]. Everything comes from Paris.’

 

Their conversation was interrupted by Anna, who had found the men in the billiard-room and brought them back with her to the verandah. As there was still plenty of time before dinner, and the weather was beautiful, several different ways of passing the next two hours were proposed. There were a great many ways of spending time at Vozdvizhensk, all differing from those at Pokrovsk.

 

‘Une partie de [a game of] lawn tennis,’ suggested Veslovsky with his pleasing smile. ‘We will be partners again, Anna Arkadyevna!’

 

‘No, it’s too hot: better let’s walk through the garden and go for a row, to let Darya Alexandrovna see the banks,’ suggested Vronsky.

 

‘I will agree to anything,’ said Sviyazhsky.

 

‘I think Dolly will find a walk the pleasantest, won’t you? And then we can go in the boat,’ said Anna.

 

All agreed to this. Veslovsky and Tushkevich went to the bathing-house, promising to get the boat ready there and to wait for the others.

 

Two couples — Anna with Sviyazhsky and Dolly with Vronsky — walked down a garden path. Dolly was somewhat embarrassed and troubled by the quite novel circle she found herself in. In the abstract, theoretically, she not only excused but even approved of Anna’s action. As is frequently the case with irreproachably moral women who become tired of the monotony of a moral life, she from a distance not only excused a guilty love but even envied it. Besides, she loved Anna from her heart. But actually seeing her among these people so alien to herself, with their fashionable tone which was quite new to her, Dolly felt ill at ease. In particular it was disagreeable to her to see the Princess Barbara, who forgave them everything for the sake of the comforts she enjoyed there.

 

In general, in the abstract, Dolly approved the step Anna had taken, but it was unpleasant to her to see the man for whose sake the step had been taken. Besides, she had never liked Vronsky. She considered him very proud, and saw nothing in him to justify that pride, except his wealth. But involuntarily he, here in his own house, imposed on her more than ever, and she could not feel at ease with him. She experienced the same kind of shyness in his presence that she had felt when the lady’s maid saw her jacket. As with the maid she felt not exactly ashamed but uncomfortable about the patches, so with him she felt not exactly ashamed but ill at ease about herself.

 

Feeling embarrassed, she tried to think of something to talk about. Though she thought that, being so proud, he would not be pleased to hear his house and garden admired, yet not finding any other subject for conversation, she said she liked his house very much.

 

‘Yes, it is a very handsome building and in a good old style,’ he said.

 

‘I like the courtyard in front of the portico very much. Was it like that before?’

 

‘Oh no!’ he replied, and his face lit up with pleasure. ‘If you had only seen that courtyard in spring!’

 

And he began, at first with reserve but more and more carried away by his subject, to draw her attention to various details of the adornment of the house and garden. One could see that, having devoted great pains to the improvement and decoration of his place, Vronsky felt compelled to boast of them to a fresh person, and was heartily pleased by Dolly’s praises.

 

‘If you care to see the hospital and are not too tired — it is not far. Shall we go?’ he suggested, glancing at her face to assure himself that she really was not bored.

 

‘Will you come, Anna?’ he said, turning to her.

 

‘We’ll come. Shall we?’ she asked Sviyazhsky. ‘Mais il ne faut pas laisser le pauvre Veslovsky et Tushkevich se morfondre là dans le bateau! [But we must not leave poor Veslovsky and Tushkevich to wait in vain in the boat!] We must send to let them know. Yes, it is a monument he is erecting here,’ said Anna to Dolly, with the same sly knowing smile with which she had previously spoken about the hospital.

 

‘Oh, it’s a great undertaking!’ said Sviyazhsky. But, not to seem to be making up to Vronsky, he immediately added a slightly condemnatory remark. ‘But I am surprised, Count, that you, who are doing so much for the people from a sanitary point of view, should be so indifferent to the schools!’

 

‘C’est devenu tellement commun, les écoles [Schools have become so common],’ answered Vronsky. ‘Of course that’s not the reason, but I . . . I have been carried away. This is the way to the hospital,’ he said, turning to Dolly and pointing to a turning that led out of the avenue.

 

The ladies opened their sunshades and entered the sidewalk. After several turnings they passed through a gate, and Dolly saw on the high ground before her a large, red, nearly completed building of a fanciful shape. The still unpainted iron roof shone dazzlingly in the sunshine. Beside the finished building another as yet surrounded by scaffolding was being built. Workmen wearing aprons stood on the scaffolding laying bricks, pouring water from wooden pails, or smoothing the mortar.

 

‘How quickly your work gets on!’ said Sviyazhsky. ‘When I was last here there was no roof.’

 

‘It will be finished by autumn. The interior is nearly completed,’ said Anna.

 

‘And what is this new building?’

 

‘That will be the doctor’s quarters and the dispensary,’ replied Vronsky; and seeing the architect in his short jacket coming toward them, he apologized to the ladies and went to meet him.

 

Avoiding the pit from which the men were taking mortar, he stopped and began heatedly discussing something with the architect.

 

‘The pediment is still too low,’ he answered Anna’s question as to what it was all about.

 

‘I said the foundations ought to be raised,’ said Anna.

 

‘Yes, of course that would have been better, Anna Arkadyevna,’ replied the architect, ‘but it’s done now.’

 

‘Yes, I am very much interested in it,’ said Anna to Sviyazhsky, who expressed surprise at her knowledge of architecture. ‘The new building ought to be in line with the hospital, but it was an afterthought and was begun without a plan.’

 

Having finished talking with the architect Vronsky rejoined the ladies and led them to the hospital.

 

Although they were still working at the cornices outside and painting inside on the ground floor, the upper story was nearly finished. Ascending the broad cast-iron staircase to the landing, they entered the first large room. The walls were plastered with imitation marble, and the enormous plate-glass windows were already in place; only the parquet floor was not finished, and the carpenters who were planing a square of the parquet left their work, and removing the tapes that kept their hair out of the way, bowed to the gentlefolk.

 

‘This is the waiting-room,’ said Vronsky. ‘There will be a desk, a table and a cupboard here: nothing more.’

 

‘This way! We will pass here. Don’t go near the window!’ said Anna, feeling whether the paint was dry. ‘Alexis, the paint is dry already,’ she added.

 

From the waiting-room they passed into the corridor. Here Vronsky showed them the new system of ventilation which had been installed. Then he showed the marble baths and the beds with peculiar spring mattresses. Then he took them to one ward after another: to the store-room, the linen-room; showed the stoves built on a new plan, then some silent trollies to convey necessary articles, and much besides. Sviyazhsky appreciated everything like one who is acquainted with all the newest improvements. Dolly was simply surprised at what she had never before seen, and wishing to understand it all, asked for information about every detail, which evidently gratified Vronsky.

 

‘Yes, I think this will be the only quite correctly planned hospital in Russia,’ said Sviyazhsky.

 

‘And will you have a maternity ward?’ inquired Dolly. ‘That is so much wanted in the country. I often . . .’

 

Despite his courtesy, Vronsky interrupted her.

 

‘This is not a maternity home but a hospital, and is intended for all illnesses, except infectious ones,’ he said. ‘But have a look at this . . .’ and he moved a chair for convalescents, just arrived from abroad, toward Dolly. ‘Just look!’ He sat down in the chair and began moving it. ‘A patient is unable to walk — still too weak, or has something the matter with his feet; but he wants fresh air, so he goes out, takes a ride . . .’

 

Everything interested Dolly and everything pleased her, especially Vronsky himself with his natural and naïve enthusiasm. ‘Yes, he is a very nice, good fellow,’ she thought again and again, not listening to him but looking at him, understanding his expression, and mentally putting herself in Anna’s place. In this animated state she liked him so much that she understood Anna’s being able to fall in love with him.

 

 

Chapter 21

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‘NO, I think the Princess Darya Alexandrovna is tired and horses do not interest her,’ said Vronsky to Anna, who was suggesting that they should go to the stud farm where Sviyazhsky wanted to look at a new stallion. ‘You go, and I will see the Princess back to the house and will have a talk with her — if you do not mind?’ he added, turning to Dolly.

 

‘I don’t understand anything about horses, and shall be very pleased to,’ answered Dolly, taken rather by surprise.

 

She saw by Vronsky’s face that he wanted something of her. She was not mistaken. As soon as they had passed through the gate back into the garden, he glanced in the direction Anna had taken, and having assured himself that she could not hear or see them, he began.

 

‘You have guessed that I want to talk to you,’ he said, looking at her with laughter in his eyes. ‘I know that you are a friend of Anna’s.’ He took off his hat, and with his handkerchief mopped his head, which was getting bald.

 

Dolly did not reply and only looked at him with alarm. Alone with him she suddenly felt frightened: his laughing eyes and stern expression scared her.

 

Many diverse suppositions as to what he was about to say flitted through her brain. ‘He will ask me to come and stay with them and bring the children, and I shall have to refuse; or to get together a circle for Anna in Moscow. . . . Or maybe it’s about Vasenka Veslovsky and his relations with Anna? Or possibly about Kitty, and that he feels guilty toward her?’ Everything she surmised was unpleasant, but she did not hit on what he actually wished to speak about.

 

‘You have so much influence over Anna and she is so fond of you,’ he said. ‘Help me!’

 

Dolly looked with timid inquiry at his energetic face, which was now wholly and now partly in the sunlight that fell between the lime trees, and then was again darkened by their shadow. She waited for what more he would say; but he walked by her side in silence, prodding the gravel with his stick as he went.