Karenin's letter stated ten o'clock in the morning, and Anna had risen earlier than usual.
She did morning exercises in her room for a period of time. Although the effect was not obvious, she felt that her body was much better.
While having breakfast, Anna's aunt Madame Terrier finally brought up the topic of Karenin's coming visit, but she didn't say so, but let Anna do as she told her, and dress up nicely.
"Yes, Aunt."
Anna agreed gently, and the twins squeezed their eyes. Their mother, who was Anna's cousin, looked at her with pitiful eyes.
But in fact, Anna is grateful for Aunt Terrier's indifference. God knows how much she wants to marry that gentleman who is not very popular now, and, to be honest, people who have been in that circle are born not Say no to ways of making yourself beautiful.
Although the weather was still cold, Anna changed into a light blue skirt when she returned to her room, which was a little flimsy, so she added a white shawl with gold embroidery. After thinking about it, she made a camellia out of a silk handkerchief, and stuck it in her curly black hair.
She left a strand on purpose and made it more curly with a simple curling iron she made herself.
Luckily, she didn't need to iron her eyelashes, they were already thick and curled, and all she had to do later was to make herself look beautiful enough to charm that gentleman. Thinking of this, Anna gave herself in the mirror a smile that you should cheer for.
Ten o'clock, exactly on time.
The steward informed Mr. Karenin that he had arrived.
Anna is not allowed to go out yet. After all, she is an unmarried woman, but that doesn't mean she won't hide behind the curtains on the balcony and become the first person to see her fiancé-to-be.
Even if everyone thinks that it is enough for her to just listen to the words of the elders, in Anna's heart, this is just her own business.
So, when the man entered the house and walked on the road with his long legs, Anna's heart was already jumping for joy.
Standing on the window sill, she couldn't help opening the curtains. Now she didn't care about being seen, she just wanted to look at her to make sure it wasn't a dream.
"I just look at him."
"Will he see me too?"
The romantic scene didn't happen, Karenin didn't know that his bold fiancée was watching him, after all, even if he was used to political troubles, it would be the first time to propose a marriage.
Anna waited in the room for twenty minutes before the maid came and told her that her aunt had sent her to the drawing room.
She took a deep breath and walked over with steady and graceful steps.
The servant opened the door and Anna went in.
Everyone's eyes fell on her, and this appearance made her feel at ease. After all, she lived in the eyes of everyone in her previous life. As her favorite manager told her, this stage belongs to her, and she only needs to look at the person she wants.
So she raised her eyes and met the gentleman in mid-air, then smiled, moved away gently, and sat perfectly on Aunt Terrier's side, fully showing the elegance and demeanor that a noble lady should have.
Madame Terrier was evidently pleased with her niece's behaviour. Even if she thinks that Mr. Karenin is good enough, he is obviously not as good as the Oblonsky family in terms of pedigree and family status, and what she can't tolerate the most is that the members of the Oblonsky family give their family a black eye. Shame, if something like this happened, she would rather die.
"This is my niece, the eldest daughter of the Oblonsky family."
Mrs. Terier introduced Anna to Karenin. Although they both knew that the two people might have known each other for a long time, the modesty and pride of nobles could not allow such a private exchange. It is unseemly for two unmarried men and women to know each other without the introduction of the parents present.
Karenin knew these rules and etiquette better than anyone, so he did exactly what Terier asked. After he expresses his purpose of wanting to marry Mademoiselle Oblonsky, Madame Terrier lets him see her.
His little fiancée was indeed very beautiful, whether it was her curly black hair or her big gray eyes. If two days ago she looked like an unrestrained bold girl, all the behaviors she showed today are the elegance that a famous lady should have.
"My dear, Mr. Karenin thinks you are a noble woman, and he earnestly hopes to have you as his wife."
Madame Terrier looked at Anna, her thin lips were not at all amiable even if she said the word "dear".
Everyone knew it wasn't asking for advice, and Madame Terrier only accepted consent, not refusal.
"You brought me up like my mother. Dear aunt, everything is up to you." Anna deliberately said with a kind of shyness that a young daughter should have, and did not forget to flatter Mrs. Terrier.
Madame Terrier was very satisfied with this, and her gray eyes, which had inherited the Oblonsky family, looked Karenin again, and then said that she thought it was a well-matched marriage.
Then they began to discuss the wedding date.
"Two weeks?" Madame Terrier frowned. It was too hasty.
Karenin was neither slow nor slow, and he had already thought up an excuse for this.
Before he started to speak, he habitually looked at everyone, took note of their expressions and analyzed them, and finally he gave his fiancée a comforting look.
Karenin's blue eyes looked at his aunt-to-be. His eyes were calm and steady. They didn't have the usual flattering meaning of the niece-in-law-to-be, nor did they seem alienated, but just right.
"As you may have heard, it is His Majesty's order that I come to Moscow this time, in preparation for my one-month trip to France in two weeks' time."
The man's voice was unhurried, and Anna almost looked at Karenin with bright eyes again, hinting to her aunt that his going to France was so important that he might even be promoted again, and by then, the emperor's third The younger sister is coming of age.
Anna saw her aunt frowned slightly when she heard this, she knew that what Karenin said worked, but the emperor's third sister
She glanced at Karenin, and the young gentleman did not make eye contact with her out of courtesy.
He was sitting there, his long legs covered by straight pants, his slender fingers were clean without the rings she had seen in her previous life, and his thumb was slowly stroking the armrest. Eyebrows stretched, confident and calm.
Anna dares to swear that this indifferent gentleman must not know that he is surrounded by pheromones at this moment, declaring the words "look at me" forcefully to others.
Anna lowered her eyes to ease her emotions, and the moment she lowered her head, she didn't know that the walking Mr. Pheromones looked at him for two or three seconds, in a way that no one would notice.
In his pale blue eyes under the long and slender eyelashes, there is only the elegant and gentle silhouette of the girl. From the other party's thick eyelashes to the plump lips, it is astonishingly beautiful, like a picture scroll drawn by gentleness.
No one knows what happened in these two seconds, only the person involved knows what kind of deep trace the other party has left in his heart at this moment.