Summary
Vronsky continues life as usual in his regiment. Though
he never lets slip that he loves Anna, the whole of St. Petersburg
high society knows about his feelings for her. The women who once
praised Anna as righteous now wait for a chance to sling mud in
her face.
Vronsky hears about an upcoming officers’ steeplechase,
so he buys a new mare, named Frou-Frou, to ride in one of the races.
On the day of the races, Vronsky visits Frou-Frou in the stable,
and she grows more agitated as he approaches. Vronsky reflects on
everyone pestering him about Anna.
Just before the horse race, Vronsky visits Anna at her
nearby summer house. She has been thinking about him and seems somewhat
distraught. Her son, Seryozha, is absent, as Vronsky had hoped.
Anna informs Vronsky that she is pregnant. He urges her to leave
her husband and live with him instead. Vronsky cannot imagine how
Anna can wish to continue living in such deceit, not realizing that
the reason is her love for her son. Suddenly, Vronsky realizes he
is late for the races.
Vronsky arrives at the racetrack just as Frou-Frou is
being led out of the stable. Vronsky’s brother, Alexander, approaches
him and tells him to answer a letter their mother has recently sent.
Vronsky is expected to do well in the race, as his only serious
rival is another officer, Makhotin, who rides a horse named Gladiator.
Nonetheless, Vronsky is agitated. The race begins. After a slow
start, Frou-Frou outpaces all the horses except Gladiator. At last,
Frou-Frou pulls ahead of Gladiator, and is in the lead. Vronsky
is ecstatic. But during a jump over a ditch, he shifts in the saddle
incorrectly, causing Frou-Frou to fall. The horse breaks her back
and must be shot.
Meanwhile, the Karenins’ relationship, on the surface,
has remains just the same as before. Unable to face or admit his
own feelings for his wife, Karenin treats Anna with an offended
hostility. He hardly ever sees her, as she goes away for the summer,
living near Betsy Tverskoy’s home in the countryside. At the officers’
steeplechase, which Anna and Betsy attend together, Karenin observes
that his wife only has eyes for Vronsky. When Vronsky falls, Anna
weeps with alarm, and then with relief after hearing that he is
safe. Karenin offers to take Anna home, but she prefers to stay.
Karenin tells Anna that her visible grief upon Vronsky’s fall is
highly improper. Finally, on the carriage ride home, Anna frankly
confesses to Karenin that she loves Vronsky and hates Karenin. The
shocked Karenin demands that she continue to observe the outward
conventions of marriage for appearances’ sake until a suitable solution
is found.
Meanwhile, Kitty and some of her family are at a spa in
Germany. The Shcherbatskys enjoy socializing with European aristocrats
as they await an improvement in Kitty’s health. One of the spa guests
is a snobby, elderly, Russian invalid named Madame Stahl, who is
famously devout and is accompanied by a young girl named Varenka.
Kitty likes Varenka immensely but is nervous about meeting her.
Kitty’s mother learns that two spa guests, a tattered Russian gentleman
and his female companion, are in fact Levin’s brother Nikolai and
Nikolai’s girlfriend. One day, Kitty’s mother is so impressed with
Varenka that she allows Kitty to meet the girl. Kitty is delighted,
and both mother and daughter are enchanted by Varenka’s goodness.
