Vronsky returned to his home in an agony of soul.  He tried in vain to sleep.  Visions of the faces of Aleksei and Anna rose before him.  Suddenly his brain seemed to receive a shock.  He rose, paced the room, went to the table, took from it a revolver, which he examined and loaded.  Presently he held it to his breast and without flinching pulled the trigger.  The blow knocked him down, but he had failed to kill himself The valet, who had heard the report, ran in, but was so frightened at the sight of his master lying on the floor wounded that he rushed out again for help.  In an hour came Varia, Vronsky’s sister-in-law, who sent for three doctors.  They managed to put the wounded man to bed, and Varia stayed to nurse him.

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Vronsky’s wound, though the heart was not touched, was so dangerous that for several days his life was in the balance.  But gradually the crisis passed, and as he recovered he felt calmed with the conviction that he had now effected redemption from his faults.  He accepted without hesitation an appointment to a position in Tashkend.  But the nearer the time came, the more irrepressible grew the desire to see Anna for a farewell.  He sent her a message, and she waited for his coming.  The visit was fatal.  Anna had made up her mind what to say, but the presence of Vronsky instantly overcame her resolution, and when she could find words she said, “Yes, you have conquered me.  I am yours.”

A month later Aleksei was left alone with his son, and Anna went abroad with Vronsky.

The marriage of Levin and Kitty was a brilliant occasion.  A difficulty for Levin before the marriage was the necessity of attending confession.  Like the majority of his fellows in society, he cherished no decided views on religion.  He did not believe, nor did he positively disbelieve.  But there could be no wedding without a certificate of confession.  To the priest he frankly acknowledged his doubts, that doubt was his chief sin, that he was nearly always in doubt.  But the gentle and kindly priest exhorted him to cultivate the practice of prayer, and then pronounced the formula of absolution.

In presence of a great assembly the wedding took place.  The same priest who had heard the confession ministered for the marriage.  He handed to each of the couple a lighted candle decorated with flowers.  The chanting of an invisible choir resounded richly through the church, and when the liturgy was finished, the solemn benediction was read over the bridal pair.  It was a great event in the fashionable world of Moscow.

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