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in the conversation with the aide-de-camp Oblonsky had a sense of
relaxation and relief after the conversation with Levin, which always
put him to too great a mental and spiritual strain.
When the Tatar appeared with a bill for twenty-six roubles and
odd kopecks, besides a tip for himself, Levin, who would another time
have been horrified, like any one from the country, at his share of
fourteen roubles, did not notice it, paid, and set off homewards to dress
and go to the Shtcherbatskys’ there to decide his fate.
Chapter 12.
The young Princess Kitty Shtcherbatskaya was eighteen. It was
the first winter that she had been out in the world. Her success in
society had been greater than that of either of her elder sisters, and
greater even than her mother had anticipated. To say nothing of the
young men who danced at the Moscow balls being almost all in love
with Kitty, two serious suitors had already this first winter made their
appearance: Levin, and immediately after his departure, Count Vronsky.
Levin’s appearance at the beginning of the winter, his frequent
visits, and evident love for Kitty, had led to the first serious conversa-
tions between Kitty’s parents as to her future, and to disputes between
them. The prince was on Levin’s side; he said he wished for nothing
better for Kitty. The princess for her part, going round the question in
the manner peculiar to women, maintained that Kitty was too young,
that Levin had done nothing to prove that he had serious intentions,
that Kitty felt no great attraction to him, and other side issues; but she
did not state the principal point, which was that she looked for a better
match for her daughter, and that Levin was not to her liking, and she
did not understand him. When Levin had abruptly departed, the
princess was delighted, and said to her husband triumphantly: “You
see I was right.” When Vronsky appeared on the scene, she was still
more delighted, confirmed in her opinion that Kitty was to make not