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 CHAPTER IX

" carriage! " cried the Swiss, in a portentous voice.

The carriage came up, and the two friends got in. Only as long as the carriage was still in the courtyard did Levin continue to experience the feeling of clubbish comfort, of satisfaction, and of indubitable decorum, which had surrounded him. But as soon as the carriage rolled out on the street, the jolting over the uneven pavement, the cries of an angry izvoshchik whom they met, and the sight of the red sign of a low public house and some shops lighted up, caused this impression to fade away, and he began to think over what follies he had committed, and to ask himself if he were doing right in going to see Anna. What would Kitty say? Stepan Arkadyevitch, as if he had divined what was passing in the mind of his companion, cut short his meditations.

"How glad I am," said he, "that you are going to know her! You know Dolly has been wishing it for a long time. Lvof goes to her house, too. Though she is my sister," continued Stepan Arkadyevitch, "I am bold enough to say that she is a remarkable woman. You will see it. Her position is very hard, especially just now."

"Why do you say 'especially now'?"

"We are negotiating with her husband for a divorce, and he is willing; but there are difficulties on account of the son; and this matter, which ought to have been settled long ago, is dragging on now these three months. As soon as the divorce is granted, she will marry Vronsky.—How stupid it is, this old habit of dizziness, 'Isaiah rejoice,' in which no one believes, and which destroys the happiness of people," exclaimed Stepan Arkadyevitch, interrupting what he was saying. Then he went on, "and then her position will become as regular as yours or mine."

"Where does the difficulty lie?"

"Akh! it is a long and tiresome story; everything is