his deliberate intonations, his weary eyes, and his soft white hands with their swollen veins. Not only did the thought of seeing him fill her with joy, but it seemed to her that she saw on her friend's face the signs of the impression which she made on him. She did her best to please him, no less by her person than by her conversation. Never before had she spent so much time and attention on her toilet. More than once she found herself wondering what would happen if she were not married and he were only free! When he came into the room, she colored with emotion, and she could not restrain a smile of ecstasy if he said something pleasant to her.
For several days the countess had been in a state of great excitement. She knew that Anna and Vronsky were back in Petersburg. It was necessary to save Alekseï Aleksandrovitch from seeing her; it was necessary to save him even from the tormenting knowledge that this wretched woman was living in the same town with him and he might meet her at any instant.
Lidia Ivanovna made inquiries through acquaintances so as to discover the plans of these repulsive people as she called Anna and Vronsky; and she tried to direct all of Karenin's movements so that he might not meet them. The young aide to the emperor, a friend of Vronsky's, from whom she learned about them, and who was hoping through the Countess Lidia Ivanovna's influence to get a concession, told her that they were completing their arrangements and expected to depart on the following day.
Lidia Ivanovna was beginning to breathe freely once more, when on the next morning she received a note, the handwriting of which she recognized with terror. It was Anna Karenina's handwriting. The envelop was of paper thick as bark; the oblong sheet of yellow paper was adorned with an immense monogram. The note exhaled a delicious perfume.
"Who brought it?"
"A messenger from the hotel."
The countess waited long before she had the cour-
