Part Five: Chapter 16

by Leo Tolstoy

　　When Levin went upstairs, his wife was sitting near the newsilver samovar behind the new tea service, and, having settledold Agafea Mihalovna at a little table with a full cup of tea,was reading a letter from Dolly, with whom they were in continualand frequent correspondence.

　　"You see, your good lady's settled me here, told me to sit a bitwith her," said Agafea Mihalovna, smiling affectionately atKitty.

　　In these words of Agafea Mihalovna, Levin read the final act ofthe drama which had been enacted of late between her and Kitty.He saw that, in spite of Agafea Mihalovna's feelings being hurtby a new mistress taking the reins of government out of herhands, Kitty had yet conquered her and made her love her.

　　"Here, I opened your letter too," said Kitty, handing him anilliterate letter. "It's from that woman, I think, yourbrother's..." she said. "I did not read it through. This isfrom my people and from Dolly. Fancy! Dolly took Tanya andGrisha to a children's ball at the Sarmatskys': Tanya was aFrench marquise."

　　But Levin did not hear her. Flushing, he took the letter fromMarya Nikolaevna, his brother's former mistress, and began toread it. This was the second letter he had received from MaryaNikolaevna. In the first letter, Marya Nikolaevna wrote that hisbrother had sent her away for no fault of hers, and, withtouching simplicity, added that though she was in want again, sheasked for nothing, and wished for nothing, but was only tormentedby the thought that Nikolay Dmitrievitch would come to griefwithout her, owing to the weak state of his health, and beggedhis brother to look after him. Now she wrote quite differently.She had found Nikolay Dmitrievitch, had again made it up with himin Moscow, and had moved with him to a provincial town, where hehad received a post in the government service. But that he hadquarreled with the head official, and was on his way back toMoscow, only he had been taken so ill on the road that it wasdoubtful if he would ever leave his bed again, she wrote. "It'salways of you he has talked, and, besides, he has no more moneyleft."

　　"Read this; Dolly writes about you," Kitty was beginning, with asmile; but she stopped suddenly, noticing the changed expressionon her husband's face.

　　"What is it? What's the matter?"

　　"she writes to me that Nikolay, my brother, is at death's door.I shall go to him."

　　Kitty's face changed at once. Thoughts of Tanya as a marquise,of Dolly, all had vanished.

　　"When are you going?" she said.

　　"Tomorrow."

　　"And I will go with you, can I?" she said.

　　"Kitty! What are you thinking of?" he said reproachfully.

　　"How do you mean?" offended that he should seem to take hersuggestion unwillingly and with vexation. "Why shouldn't I go?I shan't be in your way. I..."

　　"I'm going because my brother is dying," said Levin. "Why shouldyou..."

　　"Why? For the same reason as you."

　　"And, at a moment of such gravity for me, she only thinks of herbeing dull by herself," thought Levin. And this lack of candorin a matter of such gravity infuriated him.

　　"It's out of the question," he said sternly.

　　Agafea Mihalovna, seeing that it was coming to a quarrel, gentlyput down her cup and withdrew. Kitty did not even notice her.The tone in which her husband had said the last words woundedher, especially because he evidently did not believe what she hadsaid.

　　"I tell you, that if you go, I shall come with you; I shallcertainly come," she said hastily and wrathfully. "Why out ofthe question? Why do you say it's out of the question?"

　　"Because it'll be going God knows where, by all sorts of roadsand to all sorts of hotels. You would be a hindrance to me,"said Levin, trying to be cool.

　　"Not at all. I don't want anything. Where you can go, Ican...."

　　"Well, for one thing then, because this woman's there whom youcan't meet."

　　"I don't know and don't care to know who's there and what. Iknow that my husband's brother is dying and my husband is goingto him, and I go with my husband too...."

　　"Kitty! Don't get angry. But just think a little: this is amatter of such importance that I can't bear to think that youshould bring in a feeling of weakness, of dislike to being leftalone. Come, you'll be dull alone, so go and stay at Moscow alittle."

　　"There, you always ascribe base, vile motives to me," she saidwith tears of wounded pride and fury. "I didn't mean, it wasn'tweakness, it wasn't...I feel that it's my duty to be with myhusband when he's in trouble, but you try on purpose to hurt me,you try on purpose not to understand...."

　　"No; this is awful! To be such a slave!" cried Levin, gettingup, and unable to restrain his anger any longer. But at the samesecond he felt that he was beating himself.

　　"Then why did you marry? You could have been free. Why did you,if you regret it?" she said, getting up and running away into thedrawing room.

　　When he went to her, she was sobbing.

　　He began to speak, trying to find words not to dissuade butsimply to soothe her. But she did not heed him, and would notagree to anything. He bent down to her and took her hand, whichresisted him. He kissed her hand, kissed her hair, kissed herhand again--still she was silent. But when he took her face inboth his hands and said "Kitty!" she suddenly recovered herself,and began to cry, and they were reconciled.

　　It was decided that they should go together the next day. Levintold his wife that he believed she wanted to go simply in orderto be of use, agreed that Marya Nikolaevna's being with hisbrother did not make her going improper, but he set off at thebottom of his heart dissatisfied both with her and with himself.He was dissatisfied with her for being unable to make up her mindto let him go when it was necessary (and how strange it was forhim to think that he, so lately hardly daring to believe in suchhappiness as that she could love him--now was unhappy because sheloved him too much!), and he was dissatisfied with himself fornot showing more strength of will. Even greater was the feelingof disagreement at the bottom of his heart as to her not needingto consider the woman who was with his brother, and he thoughtwith horror of all the contingencies they might meet with. Themere idea of his wife, his Kitty, being in the same room with acommon wench, set him shuddering with horror and loathing.