590 591
Chapter 7.
The next day was Sunday. Stepan Arkadyevitch went to the Grand
Theater to a rehearsal of the ballet, and gave Masha Tchibisova, a
pretty dancing-girl whom he had just taken under his protection, the
coral necklace he had promised her the evening before, and behind the
scenes in the dim daylight of the theater, managed to kiss her pretty
little face, radiant over her present. Besides the gift of the necklace he
wanted to arrange with her about meeting after the ballet. After ex-
plaining that he could not come at the beginning of the ballet, he
promised he would come for the last act and take her to supper. From
the theater Stepan Arkadyevitch drove to Ohotny Row, selected him-
self the fish and asparagus for dinner, and by twelve o’clock was at
Dussot’s, where he had to see three people, luckily all staying at the
same hotel: Levin, who had recently come back from abroad and was
staying there; the new head of his department, who had just been
promoted to that position, and had come on a tour of revision to Mos-
cow; and his brother-in-law, Karenin, whom he must see, so as to be
sure of bringing him to dinner.
Stepan Arkadyevitch liked dining, but still better he liked to give a
dinner, small, but very choice, both as regards the food and drink and as
regards the selection of guests. He particularly liked the program of
that day’s dinner. There would be fresh perch, asparagus, and la piece
de resistance— first-rate, but quite plain, roast beef, and wines to suit:
so much for the eating and drinking. Kitty and Levin would be of the
party, and that this might not be obtrusively evident, there would be a
girl cousin too, and young Shtcherbatsky, and la piece de resistance
among the guests—Sergey Koznishev and Alexey Alexandrovitch.
Sergey Ivanovitch was a Moscow man, and a philosopher; Alexey
Alexandrovitch a Petersburger, and a practical politician. He was ask-
ing, too, the well-known eccentric enthusiast, Pestsov, a liberal, a great
talker, a musician, an historian, and the most delightfully youthful per-
son of fifty, who would be a sauce or garnish for Koznishev and Karenin.
He would provoke them and set them off.
The second installment for the forest had been received from the
merchant and was not yet exhausted; Dolly had been very amiable
and goodhumored of late, and the idea of the dinner pleased Stepan
Arkadyevitch from every point of view. He was in the most light-
hearted mood. There were two circumstances a little unpleasant, but
these two circumstances were drowned in the sea of good-humored
gaiety which flooded the soul of Stepan Arkadyevitch. These two
circumstances were: first, that on meeting Alexey Alexandrovitch the
day before in the street he had noticed that he was cold and reserved
with him, and putting the expression of Alexey Alexandrovitch’s face
and the fact that he had not come to see them or let them know of his
arrival with the rumors he had heard about Anna and Vronsky, Stepan
Arkadyevitch guessed that something was wrong between the hus-
band and wife.
That was one disagreeable thing. The other slightly disagreeable
fact was that the new head of his department, like all new heads, had
the reputation already of a terrible person, who got up at six o’clock in
the morning, worked like a horse, and insisted on his subordinates