A Noble Marriage - Chapter 27
Chapter 27 – Karenin’s Admirer (2)
In the next days, Karenin was no longer swamped with work. They went to many places together. During one of their trips, Anna was in awe of how broad his knowledge was, whether it was the talk of politics or art.
“I didn’t know that you like art,” Anna commented.
“I don’t like it,” Karenin denied.
They were standing before a massive painting with the scribbles “Sleep at Night” at its bottom. It showed a scene where everyone was asleep, except for a mother in tattered clothes, she was still awake, humming softly and coaxing her child to sleep.
“My job requires me to know a lot of these things, and talking is part of the job.”
Anna nodded in understanding. She liked that a person could be diligent in work, even though he is never interested in that field, it showed his devotion to his profession.
“She is a good mother, maybe poor, but she takes good care of her children,” Anna said and then let out a sigh, her eyes gleamed a little as she did so. She was reminded of her mother, not of the deceased mother she had in this life whom she never met, but the one she had in her past life.
She was at the age of twelve when she became alone. In order to bring food to the table, her mother went abroad—it was a difficult period. Anna couldn’t blame her mother, she only did it for her, but the child was depraved of parental attention and love. It left a hole in her, growing up without a sense of belongingness…
There was no hardship that an optimistic person could not overcome; she kept telling herself of this. She had always believed in this philosophy, and over time, she proved to herself that she was right.
Karenin spared a glance at his wife, who seemed forlorn, an unknown cloud seemed to come over her. He swallowed the words that were about to roll from of his lips, and had only muttered a nimble “Yes.”
His icy blue eyes were fixated at the painting. He knew something she didn’t, nor everyone else for that matter. Truth is, the artist of the painting had once confided in him, that this piece was an image of death.
“The rich detest recognizing the real death as they so love this world, love the riches and fame only found in this world. However, it is not the same with the poor,” was the peculiar painter’s exact words. The painting indeed portrayed a mother singing her child to sleep, a child that would never once again wake up.
Karenin refused to make privy of this information his wife.
“I’m a bit too emotional, don’t you think?” Anna took out a handkerchief and wiped her eyes, appearing a little embarrassed.
“That’s not a bad quality. A person needs compassion and empathy. It is terrible if you don’t have this.”
“A person with a conscience may be kind even if they occasionally do wrong, but a person without a conscience will only become a cold thug.” He added.
Anna looked at Karenin, and then smiled. “I have encountered some bad things before, but now I think they were all worth it.”
Karenin looked at his wife, “Me too, Anna.” Then, she took his arm and continued to listen to him introducing other paintings. As he did so, Anna couldn’t help but admire his tall, straight nose from where she stood. It was as upright as his person, she surmised.
*
The Karenins had declined the tea party hosted by Mrs de Malere a few days ago but when the latter personally invited them to the cafe on the Champs Elysées, they could no longer refuse.
In the café, Mrs de Malere praised Karenin for his rationality and rigorous work without hesitation. The way she bats her lashes to the diplomat didn’t escape Anna’s notice. In fact, Anna could say that there were moments even that the madame seemed to be crossing a line.
“Your husband is a rare and wise man. He is very outstanding and has a bright future. He needs to participate in more social gatherings though, such will be very helpful to his career!”
Mrs de Malere hinted that Anna should not use her uncultured mind, nor interfere with a clever political official. She had sent out several invitations, but Karenin tactfully declined. There has never been an instance that Madame de Malere’s invitation had been declined before, so she naturally thought that Anna said something to dissuade her husband. After all, the intuition between women has always been dubbed as the most accurate.
Anna looked at the woman carefully, her blond hair suited her, and her eyes looked passionate and smart. She possessed charms that were rare of the average women, furthermore, she also had the cleverness and means that most women lack.
If she were envied by other women, Anna could not blame them. But such a smart woman has one problem—possessiveness. Mrs de Malere was greedy, a kind of woman that always wins no matter how.
However, everyone, no matter how smart could be stupid too. Like moths to the fire, they give up everything to get closer to their goals.
“My husband is a stubborn person. He doesn’t like to take apples handed by others. He likes to climb alone. I don’t think anyone in this world knows him better than I.” Anna replied with a smile. She had no jealousy towards this Madame de Malere now, and even her beauty and intelligence had faded to her for no particular reason.
Anna was neither as smart as her but she understood one thing…
‘Madame de Malere doesn’t really love him.’
‘She loves nothing more than a phantom that she imagined herself with and because of a little appearance, she believed that Karenin would be like what she had envisioned him to be. She loved and admired him from afar, she thought that his most attractive virtues was because he was kind, smart and knew how to respect his superiors.’
‘She regards him as the man who is indulging in desires, and uses beauty and wisdom to attract him, but she never gave much effort to really get to know him. This is a hunt, and Madame de Malere just wants to win.’
