have really satisfied me, and that was to attack him physically

`I don't know what you are referring to, maman,' he answered coldly. `Come, maman, let us go.'

Madame Karenina entered the carriage again to say good-by to the Countess.

`Well, Countess, you have met your son, and I my brother,' she said gaily. `And all my stories are exhausted; I should have nothing more to tell you.'

`Oh, no,' said the Countess, taking her hand. `I could go all around the world with you and never be dull. You are one of those delightful women in whose company it's sweet either to be silent or to chat. Now please don't fret over your son; you can't expect never to be parted.'

Madame Karenina stood quite still, holding herself very erect, and her eyes were smiling.

`Anna Arkadyevna,' the Countess said in explanation to her son, `has a little son eight years old, I believe, and she has never been parted from him before, and she keeps fretting over leaving him.'

`Yes, the Countess and I have been talking all the time, I of my son and she of hers,' said Madame Karenina, and again a smile lighted up her face - a caressing smile intended for him.

`I am afraid that you must have been dreadfully bored,' he said, promptly catching the ball of coquetry she had flung him. But apparently she did not care to pursue the conversation in that strain, and she turned to the old Countess.