age to sit down and read it. Her emotion almost brought on an attack of asthma, to which she was subject. At last, when she felt calmer, she opened the following note written in French:—
Madame la Comtesse:—The Christian sentiments filling your heart prompt me, with unpardonable boldness, I fear, to address you. I am unhappy at being separated from my son, and I ask you to do me the favor of letting me see him once more before I depart. If I do not make direct application to Alekseï Aleksandrovitch, it is because I do not wish to give this generous-hearted man the pain of thinking of me. Knowing your friendship for him, I felt that you would understand me; will you have Serozha sent to me here? or do you prefer that I should come at an appointed hour? or would you let me know how and at what place I could see him? You cannot imagine my desire to see my child again, and consequently you cannot comprehend the extent of my gratefulness for the assistance that you can render me in these circumstances.
Anna.
Everything about this note exasperated the Countess Lidia Ivanovna, its tenor, the allusions to Karenin's magnanimity, and the especially free and easy tone which pervaded it.
"Say that there is no reply," said the Countess Lidia Ivanovna, and, hurriedly opening her buvard, she wrote to Alekseï Aleksandrovitch that she hoped to meet him about one o'clock at the birthday reception at the Palace.
"I must consult with you in regard to a sad and serious affair; we will decide at the Palace when I can see you. The best plan would be at my house, where I will have your tea ready. It is absolutely necessary. He imposes the cross, but He gives also the strength," she added, that she might somewhat prepare him. "The Countess Lidia Ivanovna wrote Alekseï Aleksandrovitch two or three times a day; she liked this way of communication with him, as it had the elegance and mystery which were lacking in ordinary personal intercourse.
