Pagina 829 di 2288

"Which dress am I to get ready?"

Chapter 17

The croquet party to which the Princess Tverskaya had invited

Anna was to consist of two ladies and their adorers. These two

ladies were the chief representatives of a select new Petersburg

circle, nicknamed, in imitation of some imitation, les sept

merveilles du monde. These ladies belonged to a circle which,

though of the highest society, was utterly hostile to that in

which Anna moved. Moreover, Stremov, one of the most influential

people in Petersburg, and the elderly admirer of Liza Merkalova,

was Alexey Alexandrovitch's enemy in the political world. From

all these considerations Anna had not meant to go, and the hints

in Princess Tverskaya's note referred to her refusal. But now

Anna was eager to go, in the hope of seeing Vronsky.

Anna arrived at Princess Tverskaya's earlier than the other

guests.