"Where are you going to put the princess?" said Vronsky in
French, addressing Anna, and without waiting for a reply, he once
more greeted Darya Alexandrovna, and this time he kissed her
hand. "I think the big balcony room."
"Oh, no, that's too far off! Better in the corner room, we shall
see each other more. Come, let's go up," said Anna, as she gave
her favorite horse the sugar the footman had brought her.
"_Et vous oubliez votre devoir_," she said to Veslovsky, who came
out too on the steps.
"_Pardon, j'en ai tout plein les poches_," he answered, smiling,
putting his fingers in his waistcoat pocket.
"_Mais vous venez trop tard_," she said, rubbing her handkerchief
on her hand, which the horse had made wet in taking the sugar.
Anna turned to Dolly. "You can stay some time? For one day
only? That's impossible!"
"I promised to be back, and the children..." said Dolly, feeling
embarrassed both because she had to get her bag out of the
carriage, and because she knew her face must be covered with
dust.
"No, Dolly, darling!... Well, we'll see. Come along, come
along!" and Anna led Dolly to her room.
That room was not the smart guest chamber Vronsky had suggested,
but the one of which Anna had said that Dolly would excuse it.
And this room, for which excuse was needed, was more full of
luxury than any in which Dolly had ever stayed, a luxury that
reminded her of the best hotels abroad.
"Well, darling, how happy I am!" Anna said, sitting down in her
riding habit for a moment beside Dolly. "Tell me about all of
you. Stiva I had only a glimpse of, and he cannot tell one
about the children. How is my favorite, Tanya? Quite a big
girl, I expect?"
"Yes, she's very tall," Darya Alexandrovna answered shortly,
surprised herself that she should respond so coolly about her
children. "We are having a delightful stay at the Levins'," she
added.
"Oh, if I had known," said Anna, "that you do not despise me!...
You might have all come to us. Stiva's an old friend and a great
friend of Alexey's, you know," she added, and suddenly she
blushed.
"Yes, but we are all..." Dolly answered in confusion.
"But in my delight I'm talking nonsense. The one thing, darling,
is that I am so glad to have you!" said Anna, kissing her again.
"You haven't told me yet how and what you think about me, and I
keep wanting to know. But I'm glad you will see me as I am.
The chief thing I shouldn't like would be for people to imagine I
want to prove anything. I don't want to prove anything; I
merely want to live, to do no one harm but myself. I have the
right to do that, haven't I? But it is a big subject, and we'll
talk over everything properly later. Now I'll go and dress and
send a maid to you."