After half a month, Anna thought they would return directly to Petersburg, but apparently Karenin had other plans.
"I want to take you to meet my sister."
Anna paused for a while when she packed her things. She knew that Karenin originally had two brothers and sisters, but his elder brother died very early. It is said that Karenin had a very good relationship with his elder brother, and his eldest sister was two years older than Karenin and married a French diplomat.
"Louid and Maria live in Cote d'Argent."
Ana didn't quite know where Cote d'Argunt was, but that didn't matter. Importantly, she was going to meet Karenin's family.
She likes the word family, which means close relationship.
Although she has hardly ever had this kind of relationship, she knows that most of the relatives in this world are like this.
Lo and behold, she discovered another advantage of marrying Karenin, she would have more family. But she also has her own worries, and she will be a little nervous.
"Alexey, do you think your sister will like me?"
Karenin put down what he was doing and said, "Maria is a gentle woman, I don't think you will have conflicts."
After listening to Karenin's words, Anna felt relieved.
They quickly packed up and set off, saying goodbye to Mr. Binoche.
On the train, Karenin looked at the bouquet in Anna's hand. She said it was a gift for Maria's family.
There are not many flowers at this time, and the buds are a little small, but the colors are still bright. Originally there was nothing but a handful, but shortly after boarding the train, they were taken care of.
His wife used some crepe paper to wrap the bouquet and a pink ribbon carefully tied in a bow. In the end, a piece of parchment was even cut out, and words of blessing were written on it in elegant fonts.
"Okay, here you go!"
Anna showed Karenin the arranged bouquet.
"very beautiful."
Her husband gave a positive compliment, so the expression on Anna's whole face became a little sweet and greasy.
"I hope they like me."
"You are my wife and they will accept you and like you. Don't worry about that, Anna."
Anna gave Karenin a look he might not understand, and then smiled.
"Tell me about your family, will you, Alexey?"
"Which part do you want to hear?" asked Karenin.
"all."
"That will take a long time."
"It's okay, you can speak slowly." Anna said in a soft voice. For Anna, the family has a very mysterious feeling. Because I have never owned it before, I will yearn for it even more.
In the past, such questions would not appear by Anna's side. She looks like an optimistic person, but she also has a certain stubborn sense of self-esteem in her bones.
But now, she doesn't have to worry about anything, because her husband will always tell her.
Karenin thought for a while, and then started with the simplest family introduction. He talked about his parents, his older brothers Matvey and Maria, about his teaching arrangements as a child, and even about Matvey's death.
"When I was young, I was very sad about it. Matvey was not yet twenty when he died. He was always the brightest and best of my parents' three children. He was also a Very good brother. But disease took his life."
Karenin's tone was very calm, as if he was talking about other people's grief, but Anna knew that the more calm he acted, the more he was not like that in his heart.
Perhaps as he grows older, he can now narrate the incident smoothly, but at that time, Karenin, who was only fifteen years old, must have been very sad when facing the death of his brother. So much so that now, he can finally admit that he was sad at that time.
Anna stretched out her hand and held the other's hand to convey her mood.
"It's over, Anna." Karenin whispered, "You don't need to worry about it affecting me."
"I know you don't need consolation. In your words, such consolation has no substantive effect on solving the problem. But I still want to say," she continued, "I wish I could have known you earlier."
Perhaps earlier than when he was fifteen, perhaps earlier, as early as the first time he opened his eyes from birth, he could see each other, grow up with him, and accompany him through that period of grief.
"It will never happen, if it doesn't make sense." Karenin said slowly, and Anna didn't mind this, she just smiled.
In the end, Karenin did not let go of those hands, but enjoyed the warmth of those small hands wrapping his right hand. There seemed to be no gap between the skin and the skin, just like ink and clear water. No one can separate them.
When they got off the train, Anna saw Luigi.
It was a very handsome man, with a moderate build, almost no protruding edges and corners on his face, and his hair was already a little gray, but it didn't affect his handsome appearance.
When he saw Karenin and the others coming out, he gave both parties warm hugs and kisses.
Unlike his enthusiastic actions, when this man smiled, there was a trace of tenderness at the end of his eyes.
"Louis, this is my wife, Anna, Anna, this is Maria's husband, Luigi."
Karenin introduced the two of them to each other, and Anna greeted the hospitable brother-in-law with a smile.
"Let's go, Maria and the others can't wait to see you." Lu Yide said with a smile. Although he is no longer young, his whole body has always been enveloped by a warm temperature, which makes people feel extremely comfortable .
They came to Ludwig's house in a carriage.
Mary and her sons and daughters greeted them in the courtyard.
Just as Anna imagined, Maria was also tall and inherited the thinness of the Karenin family. Her facial features were similar to Karenin's, but softer. When she smiled, she looked like her husband. There is a trace of warmth all over.
"Here you are, Maria." Anna handed the bouquet to the mistress of the house.
Although Maria is already the mother of two children, she still shows a girlish naturalness. She sniffed the bouquet in her hand, her blue eyes were bright.
She kisses Anna on the cheek.
"It's beautiful, Anna."
Anna looked at her aunt and thought: I like Karenin's sister, I like their family.
Because it was only after two o'clock when they arrived, Maria prepared a very delicious afternoon tea.
Maria's eldest daughter, Lucia, is twelve years old this year. She is very beautiful, with long sandy brown hair and blue eyes as bright as jewels in the sky. She called Aunt Anna, and looked at her from time to time with those deer-like eyes.
"What do you look at me?" Anna secretly asked the little girl.
Lucia was a little startled, because she was found peeking at this incident, so she looked a little shy, and finally she said honestly: "You are so beautiful."
"You'll be a prettier girl than me in the future." Anna said with a smile, and Lucia looked very happy. She still looked at Anna from time to time, but after being discovered by Anna, she no longer looked away embarrassedly, because Anna always gave her a smile. She was telling Lucia that she didn't mind about it.
Compared with Lucia's cuteness, Maria's 10-year-old son Andre appears to have a great personality. His eyebrows and eyes are very similar to Luid, but thinner, and his black hair looks a little disheveled. Coupled with the high cheekbones and tight lips, the unruliness in this child's eyes is really a headache.
Of course, this cannot be said that Andre is impolite.
He was also called Aunt Anna, but he was obviously not interested.
Sometimes, the kid would stare straight at a brightly colored macaron, and when Anna thought he wanted to eat it and asked him, he just shook his head and lazily changed to a different color. Macaron stared.
A warm husband, a gentle mother, a cute and shy eldest daughter, and a very individual young son, Anna could hardly believe that these were Karenin's relatives.
They are vivid, and their personalities are obviously in such a big contrast with Karenin, but during the conversation, they don't make people feel that they are out of harmony.
"The so-called family is probably like this." Anna thought in her heart.
And a long time later, when Anna accidentally talked about this meeting, there was a blue-eyed boy who just defined this contrast with a slightly contemptuous tone.
"Don't you find that in the eyes of others, your marriage with him is also the same, which is unbelievable?"
At that time, after Anna was ignorant, she finally realized it.
"For dull people like you, I sincerely want to suggest that you pack up and throw them on Mars together, and eliminate the messy interference, so that you can understand faster."
"I told you that Mars is not suitable for people living on Earth. And I'm starting to regret telling you this." When Anna complained, she only got a soft hum as an answer.