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Sviazhsky was the marshal of his district. He was five years

older than Levin, and had long been married. His sister-in-law, a

young girl Levin liked very much, lived in his house; and Levin

knew that Sviazhsky and his wife would have greatly liked to

marry the girl to him. He knew this with certainty, as so-called

eligible young men always know it, though he could never have

brought himself to speak of it to anyone; and he knew too that,

although he wanted to get married, and although by every token

this very attractive girl would make an excellent wife, he could

no more have married her, even if he had not been in love with

Kitty Shtcherbatskaya, than he could have flown up to the sky.

And this knowledge poisoned the pleasure he had hoped to find in

the visit to Sviazhsky.