‘Looky there. Is that one in britches a woman?’ said one of them, pointing at Vasenka Veslovsky, who was mounting a side-saddle.
‘Naw, it’s a man. See how sprightly he hopped up!’
‘Well, boys, does it look like we’ll have our nap?’
‘Forget it!’ said the old man, with a sidelong glance at the sun. ‘It’s already past noon! Take the hooks and get started!’
XVIII
Anna looked at Dolly’s thin, worn face with dust caught in its wrinkles and was about to say what she was thinking - namely, that Dolly had grown thinner; but remembering that she herself had become prettier and that Dolly’s eyes told her so, she sighed and began talking about herself.
‘You look at me,’ she said, ‘and think, can she be happy in her situation? Well, and what? It’s embarrassing to admit it, but I ... I’m unforgivably happy. Something magical has happened to me, like a dream, when you feel frightened, creepy, and suddenly wake up and feel that all those fears are gone. I woke up. I lived through the torment and fear, and for a long time now, especially since we came here, I’ve been so happy! ...’ she said, looking at Dolly with a timid, questioning smile.
‘How glad I am!’ Dolly said with a smile, involuntarily speaking more coldly than she meant to. ‘I’m very glad for you. Why didn’t you write to me?’
‘Why? ... Because I didn’t dare ... you forget my situation ...’
‘To me? You didn’t dare? If you knew how I ... I consider ...’
Darya Alexandrovna wanted to tell Anna about her thoughts from that morning, but for some reason the moment seemed inappropriate to her.
‘Anyhow, of that later. What are all these buildings?’ she asked, wishing to change the subject and pointing to the red and green roofs visible through the green quickset hedge of acacia and lilac. ‘Just like a little town.’
But Anna did not reply.
‘No, no! What’s your opinion of my situation? What do you think?’ she asked.
‘I suppose ...’ Darya Alexandrovna began, but just then Vasenka Veslovsky, who had got the cob going on the right leg, galloped past them in his short jacket, bouncing heavily against the suede of the side-saddle.
‘He’s caught on, Anna Arkadyevna!’ he shouted.
Anna did not even look at him; but again it seemed awkward to Darya Alexandrovna to start this long conversation in the carriage, and so she abridged her thought.
‘I have no opinion,’ she said, ‘but I’ve always loved you, and when you love someone, you love the whole person, as they are, and not as you’d like them to be.’
Anna turned her glance from her friend’s face and, narrowing her eyes (this was a new habit that Dolly had not known in her), pondered, wishing to fully understand the meaning of those words. Then, evidently having understood them as she wanted, she looked at Dolly.
‘If you have any sins,’ she said, ‘they should all be forgiven you for your coming and for those words.’
And Dolly saw tears come to Anna’s eyes. She silently pressed her hand.
‘So what are these buildings? There are so many of them!’ She repeated her question after a moment’s silence.
‘Those are the employees’ houses, the stud farm, the stables,’ replied Anna. ‘And here the park begins. It had all run to seed, but Alexei has renovated everything. He loves this estate very much and, something I never expected, he’s passionately interested in managing it. But then, his is such a rich nature! Whatever he does, he does splendidly. He’s not only not bored, but he takes it up passionately. Besides all I’ve known of him, he’s become a shrewd and excellent manager. He’s even stingy in his management, but only then. Where it’s a matter of tens of thousands, he doesn’t count,’ she said with that joyfully sly smile with which women often speak of the secret qualities of a beloved man, revealed only to them. ‘You see that big building? It’s a new hospital. I think it will cost more than a hundred thousand. It’s his
‘How fine!’ said Dolly, gazing with involuntary astonishment at the beautiful house with its columns emerging from amidst the varied greens of the old trees in the garden.
‘Isn’t it? And the view from the house, from upstairs, is wonderful.’
They drove into a courtyard covered with gravel and adorned with flowers, where two workmen were placing uncut porous stones around a freshly turned flower bed, and stopped under a covered portico.
