Page:Anna Karenina.djvu/207

 But he stepped in front of her as if to prevent her from going. Never had Anna seen his face so displeased and ugly; she remained standing, tipping her head to one side, while with quick fingers she began to pull out the hair-pins.

"Well! I will hear what you have to say," she said, in a calm, bantering tone; "I shall even listen with interest, because I should like to know what it is all about."

She herself was astonished at the assurance and calm naturalness with which she spoke, as well as at her choice of words.

"I have no right to examine your feelings. I think it is useless and even dangerous," Alekseï Aleksandrovitch began. "If we probe too deeply into our hearts, we run the risk of touching on what we ought not to perceive. Your feelings concern your conscience. But in presence of yourself, of me, and of God, I am in duty bound to remind you of your obligations. Our lives are united, not by men, but by God. Only by crime can this bond be broken, and such a crime brings its own punishment."

"I don't understand at all. Oh, heavens, how sleepy I am!" said Anna, swiftly running her hand over her hair, and taking out the last pin.

"Anna! in the name of Heaven, don't speak so," said he, gently. "Maybe I am mistaken; but believe me, what I say to you is as much for your advantage as for mine; I am your husband, and I love you."

Anna's face for an instant grew troubled, and the mocking fire disappeared from her eyes; but the word "love" irritated her. "Love!" she thought; "does he know what it means? If he had never heard that there was such a thing as love, he would never have used that word."

"Alekseï Aleksandrovitch, truly, I don't know what you mean," she said. "They say you find .... "

"Allow me to finish. I love you, but I am not speaking for myself; those who are chiefly interested are our son and yourself. It is quite possible, I repeat, that my