A Noble Marriage

PENNY www.xbiquge.cc, the fastest update on the latest chapter of Noble Marriage [Anna]!    "This is very stupid."

When Anna heard these words, the gesture of sipping black tea in her hand paused for a moment. She knew what reaction the other party wanted, but instead of doing so immediately, she continued to drink two sips of tea from her cup openly before putting it down.

She raised her eyes slightly and looked at Vronsky, whom she had not seen for some time.

The teenage boy has grown considerably, with dark pupils under his very deep eyelids, and when he said this he looked like a peacock with its head held high, with an awe-inspiring aura.

"That's not very polite, my dear Alexei." Mrs. Patsy laughed softly, her soft little hand caressing the Vronsky boy's face, and teasing her cousin affectionately, "The military school has made you a barbaric child, pick up your civilized language, or the girls will be sad."

The noblewomen's laughter prompted the few men present to follow suit, except for Vronsky, who even maintained a tense expression, his dark blue eyes looking at Anna.

Anna did not want to be stared at by this gaze, and she laughed easily along with it.

She absently passed her eyes over Vronsky, moving to Alexei, who was quiet. The latter still had the same youthful figure, but the porcelain white skin was now a little firmer than the thinness of the previous days.

"Why do men's affairs always have to be involved in our tea parties?" Anna smiled and said, "It's not enough to discuss it at dinner, but you have to talk about it now for a little tea?"

"Who says it doesn't." Mrs. Patsy opened her little folding fan and smiled.

"It's just that your husband's positive suggestion the other day was a bit of a novelty." Mrs. Patsy smiled delicately and gathered up her fan.

"You know, we've always been more accustomed to afternoon tea with people we know. We'd be a bit overwhelmed if we ever had to invite people from the semi-hip society to tea. There's so much to prepare, it could start at birth."

Mrs. Patsy finished giving Anna some tea, and she did not spill a drop of water, without losing her grace.

The weather was a little hot, her arms seemed to be covered with a layer of moisture, looking sweaty, but very attractive.

Like thinking of something. "Alexei, go and ask the kitchen to bring the chilled grapes." Patsy instructed Vronsky, and gently patted the other man's arm, and then raised a smile and told everyone where those grapes came from, causing everyone to become more interested in the grapes.

When everyone started discussing other things, Patsy simply got up and went to talk to them about making wine from the grapes.

Before she left, she asked, "Alexei, right, aren't you coming?"

"Go ahead." Anna said with a smile, and Alexei nodded gently, as a young gentleman would, and led Mrs. Petesi toward the crowd.

Anna knew that this was an invitation from Mrs. Petesi, and although Karenin did not treat some of Petesi's style, it could not be denied that in this circle, one Petesi was sometimes worth three men's lift.

Politics, women, always inseparable.

Men look down on women, powerful women will not go directly to refute this, just a delicate smile, in another powerful man to say one more sentence, and this sentence will be able to decide the rest of the life of most men.

To say that before Patsy's words clearly disapprove of Karenin's proposal, but as two circles with a close relationship, she would not be foolish enough to directly cross swords with Anna. Patsy's olive branch was also to let Anna understand what she could do to help them.

Patsy understood, Anna understood, even Alexei understood, but apparently there was someone else in the circle who did not understand.

"You haven't answered me what I said before."

That still somewhat hard tone made Anna roll her eyes inwardly.

It could not be said that she was completely unaware of it, but what Anna herself cared more nervously about than Vronsky's excessive concern was that there was some indefinable connection called fate.

She looked at the young man in front of her and thought, his name is also Alexei. An arrogant teenager. They had the same name, even the same pupil color. But so what?

"Mr. Vronsky." Anna looked up, still smiling, just as she had done since the attitude she had adopted towards him a long time ago.

"I'm just an ordinary woman, I don't understand politics."

In the past, this painless attitude of Anna would only have made Vronsky give up and be at most a little angry in his heart, but this time he obviously did not intend to do so.

"It's a genius idea to let the poor people read too, I must say." Vronsky sat down, he didn't make a loud noise, he just spoke coldly.

Had he been a few years older and had more experience, he could have done this better, or covered up his emotions. But he was, after all, a young lord of privileged birth and a charming face, in a circle where Patsy's coddling, if anything, had made Vronsky not yet learn to be overly mellow.

"You should be aware of the rumors these days, everyone is saying that your husband is buying the hearts of people in this practice, but honestly, madam, what is the use of buying the hearts of the poor people? They have neither money nor prestige, and a family can't even get a spare penny to buy a pint of beer."

"You are clearly in the same circle as we are, how can you, reckless of your status."

Anna laughed a little, her fingers taking the silver spoon and stirring the milk gently in the black tea.

"I don't know what you're talking to me about."

"Then you should at least ......"

Before the words "advise your husband" could be uttered, Vronsky's sentence was cut short.

"But if my husband makes a decision, a wife should always support him, and as to whether it is good or bad, I think I just need to listen to my husband's words." Anna picked up the spoon and after a few moments of resting without the tea going down, she gently set it down on the saucer.

The steaming tea was given a lingering glance before her gaze withdrew unceremoniously.

Anna looked across at the somewhat stunned teenager and smiled, "I suggest we had better join that side, how to make wine is obviously more interesting to me."

After saying goodbye from Mrs. Patsy's house, Anna told Peter she had to make a trip to the florist first.

Patsy said she would take Alexei back to school with Vronsky in her carriage afterwards, and Anna didn't refuse, and she only nodded slightly when she saw Alexei's inquiring look.

She was glad of the boy's intelligence and more or less sighed in her heart.

Alexei and Vronsky are not very different in age, but the former is obviously more intelligent, only, this intelligence is more or less also makes people feel pity.

On the other hand, after Anna left, Patsy saw Vronsky retreating and found him in the balcony while she was going to the dressing room.

"What are you doing here all alone." Patsy asked, putting a small hand on the teenager's shoulder.

Although Vronsky was a little upset, he would never have taken it out on Patsy, a cousin who treated him better than his own sister.

"I just came out to get some air." Vronsky said.

Patsy rolled her eyes, and even if a woman as smart as she was didn't know what was really going on, she couldn't be wrong about who it had to do with.

She looked at Vronsky with pitying eyes, and if Vronsky were an adult now, Patsy would not have said nothing.

"It's hot out here, it's better to go inside and cool off." Patsy said with a smile, as she took the teenager's hand.

What little coldness Vronsky had gathered about the world melted away as Patsy pulled her into the bustling hall.

He sat in a soft chair, cupping a chilled grape in his hand, listening to the talk of the crowd, the depression dissipated and another comfortable and full emotion took over his heart at the moment.

He was once again sure that different classes should never be crossed.

Vronsky thought with the cold arrogance of a young nobleman that he could talk to the common people in the stables, give a few dollars to the little girl selling flowers, help the old man get home, but never sit face to face with a man in rags and talk about farming or milking cows.

"No matter how hard a child from a poor family tries, even if he can cross over into our class, how can he understand the culture of the nobility, the family ties. Give them the votes and the power, and you can't guarantee that a cow will sit on the throne."

As Vronsky said, although the former may have thought Anna wasn't listening to anything, in fact, she was. It's just that the teenager hadn't had time to learn a thing, I'm afraid, and Anna wasn't obligated to listen to him talk about it.

After all, what did they have to do with each other?

Vronsky's haughty and young mind may be sensitive to the fact that there is something valuable about a woman like Anna, but his words are straightforward and reveal some of the inferiority of the age.

If that was all, the most important thing was that a young master like Vronsky, who had never been frustrated and had mingled early in his cousin's circle, did not really realize the weight of those high Petersburg officials in Anna's mind.

Anna would not say anything more to Vronsky.

There was no need, no need, her world had nothing to do with Vronsky.

She returned home and learned from Kolny that Karenin had returned and was talking with Slyutin in his study about things.

"It seems that he is very pleased with Slyutin." Anna smiled with the housekeeper.

She was always in a good mood when she came home, and here, where Karenin was, was Anna's world.

Since Karenin and Slyutin were talking about business, Anna left them alone. She took the flowers and the scissors to the sitting room, where she spent the next half hour.

"You're back."

Sliutin's voice caused Anna to look up from her book, and she looked at the green and aquiline gentleman of secretary studies with a little pleasure.

"You've been taking up a bit of my husband's time lately!"

If Mr. Secretary had been a few years younger, he would have made a face in reply, but he was now a working man in a suit and bow tie, so he too was amused.

"I'll give you back your lordship now, madam."

Sliutin pointed to Karenin, who had come down from the second floor and seemed to be accustomed to their not-so-serious conversation.

Anna got up, picked up a white rose tied with a ribbon, and walked over to Slyutin.

"Take it."

Slyutin was a little surprised, his eyes looked at his own lord, and he did not dare to extend his hand for half a day.

Karenin's expression had been kept with a certain customary blandness, but now it did tighten up a bit.

Anna looked at her husband, smiled, and looked at Sliudin: "Don't misunderstand, when you are going to meet people later, there is no way to please everyone with only that one gift." She finished with a look at Sliutin's pocket.

"You are quite dressed up today and you did not stay for dinner. As far as I know, you don't have anyone in mind at the moment." She said with some reservation.

"Then I dare take it." With a deliberately heavy sigh of relief, Sliutin took the white rose and put it in the pocket of his jacket.

After Slyutin left, Anna took Karenin's hand and prepared to enter the hall from the courtyard.

She did not move much on the surface, but in her heart she was quietly counting.

"One, two, three ......" At the ninth, sure enough, Karenin's voice sounded.

She raised her head, indicating that she was listening to the other party's words, but in fact, she was already smiling in her heart.

"That white rose, very carefully, Anna." Karenin said, in a tone of rare indecision. He realized that his wife had made a special trip to the florist to pick out the flowers, and although he said it was to help him, he himself had not received any flowers from her.

"I know you're in a sensitive position, and Sliutin, as your secretary, there are some things he'd be better off handling instead of you." Anna said, deliberately blurring the rose.

"En." Karenin responded, then continued to walk with Anna.

After entering the hall.

"That rose ......"

Karenin brought it up again, while Anna finally couldn't help but laugh.

Anna's laughter immediately alerted the smart officer, who instinctively tensed up, but relaxed again in a moment.

"You specifically went to the florist and picked out the flowers."

But not for me.

"You used the blue ribbon."

Blue, is a very special color.

For every word Karenin said, Anna guessed in her mind and added another, and then before Karenin's third word came out, she stood on tiptoe and kissed her husband directly on the lips.

"The one for Sliudin is incidental, I went to the florist for you." Anna said with a smile as she took her husband's hand and led him upstairs to their bedroom.

On the mahogany round table, blue daisies were arranged in clusters and staggered in vases. The curtains were drawn up, and the wind from the balcony and the sunlight from the window soothed these blue daisies.

Anna sat her husband in a chair and herself next to him, brushing her fingers over the pages of daisies.

"I don't know what flowers you like, but I thought you might like them when I saw them."

"You like flowers?" Karenin asked.

"I like it." Anna said, looking at the other woman, her eyebrows arched, "I know what you're thinking, Alexei, but it's okay."

Anna folded her arms and smiled softly and warmly.

"I feel happy that there's finally something that you haven't started doing for me, but I can give you first."

"But I should." Karenin's brow furrowed slightly. He hadn't originally cared about any of this, nor did he think it was really necessary to do so.

"There's no should or shouldn't. I wanted to do it, so I did it. Just like you did for me." Anna said, "And no one says that a man must send flowers to a woman, not a wife to her husband!" She said with a big smile.

Karenin looked at his wife's smiling face, and his expression turned gentle.

He reached out with his right hand and took Anna's hand in his heart, then moved closer to himself and kissed him gently at the knuckle.

"You like it, right?" Anna was a little embarrassed, but instead of backing down, her cheeks flushed as she continued to ask.

"Yes, I like them, Anna." Karenin said.

Like it or not, it barely made an appearance in Karenin's life dictionary, and he didn't see the need to reserve a place for them, but later, he thought, they might be necessary.

Looking at the sight of Karenin gazing at those daisies, and the slight smile at the corners of his mouth, Anna put her right hand on her cheek and thought tenderly - I love this man, even if he is not the best in the world, but in my world, he is unique.