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He saw that the complex conditions of the life they led made the

coarse proofs of his wife's guilt, required by the law, out of

the question; he saw that a certain refinement in that life would

not admit of such proofs being brought forward, even if he had

them, and that to bring forward such proofs would damage him in

the public estimation more than it would her.

An attempt at divorce could lead to nothing but a public scandal,

which would be a perfect godsend to his enemies for calumny and

attacks on his high position in society. His chief object, to

define the position with the least amount of disturbance

possible, would not be attained by divorce either. Moreover, in

the event of divorce, or even of an attempt to obtain a divorce,

it was obvious that the wife broke off all relations with the

husband and threw in her lot with the lover. And in spite of the

complete, as he supposed, contempt and indifference he now felt

for his wife, at the bottom of his heart Alexey Alexandrovitch

still had one feeling left in regard to her-a disinclination to

see her free to throw in her lot with Vronsky, so that her crime

would be to her advantage.