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Marriage had never presented itself to him as a possibility. He

not only disliked family life, but a family, and especially a

husband was, in accordance with the views general in the bachelor

world in which he lived, conceived as something alien, repellant,

and, above all, ridiculous.

But though Vronsky had not the least suspicion what the parents

were saying, he felt on coming away from the Shtcherbatskys' that

the secret spiritual bond which existed between him and Kitty had

grown so much stronger that evening that some step must be taken.

But what step could and ought to be taken he could not imagine.