urn in the lime tree avenue.

"But tell me one thing: was there in his tone anything unseemly,
not nice, humiliatingly horrible?" he said, standing before her
again in the same position with his clenched fists on his chest,
as he had stood before her that night.

"Yes," she said in a shaking voice; "but, Kostya, surely you see
I'm not to blame? All the morning I've been trying to take a
tone...but such people ...Why did he come? How happy we were!"
she said, breathless with the sobs that shook her.

Although nothing had been pursuing them, and there was nothing to
run away from, and they could not possibly have found anything
very delightful on that garden seat, the gardener saw with
astonishment that they passed him on their way home with
comforted and radiant faces.

Chapter 15

After escorting his wife upstairs, Levin went to Dolly's part of
the house. Darya Alexandrovna, for her part, was in great
distress too that day. She was walking about the room, talking
angrily to a little girl, who stood in the corner roaring.

"And you shall stand all day in the corner, and have your dinner
all alone, and not see one of your dolls, and I won't make you a
new frock," she said, not knowing how to punish her.

"Oh, she is a disgusting child!" she turned to Levin. "Where
does she get such wicked propensities?"

"Why, what has she done?" Levin said without much interest, for
he had wanted to ask her advice, and so was annoyed that he had
come at an unlucky moment.

"Grisha and she went into the raspberries, and there...I can't
tell you really what she did. It's a thousand pities Miss
Elliot's not with us. This one sees to nothing--she's a
machine.... _Figurez-vous que la petite_?..."

And Darya Alexandrovna described Masha's crime.

"That proves nothing; it's not a question of evil propensities at
all, it's simply mischief," Levin assured her.

"But you are upset about something? What have you come for?"
asked Dolly. "What's going on there?"

And in the tone of her question Levin heard that it would be easy
for him to say what he had meant to say.

"I've not been in there, I've been alone in the garden with
Kitty. We've had a quarrel for the second time since...Stiva
came."

Dolly looked at him with her shrewd, comprehending eyes.

"Come, tell me, honor bright, has there been...not in Kitty, but
in that gentleman's behavior, a tone which might be unpleasant--
not unpleasant, but horrible, o