Talking Yourself Back to Normal — Anna Karenina

Seryozha shrieks "Mother! mother!" and hangs on Anna's neck, yet her son, like her husband, stirs a feeling akin to disappointment: she had imagined him better and must drop to reality to enjoy him as he is. She still finds physical pleasure in his curls, questions, and presents from Dolly's children. Countess Lidia Ivanovna arrives before coffee, asks about the olive branch with Dolly, then interrupts Anna's answer to lament philanthropic wars, Slavonic committee intrigues, and enemies in the name of Christianity.

Anna suddenly sees Lydia's anger and self-righteousness with fresh clarity, as though meeting her for the first time with all her defects. Another friend brings town news and leaves for dinner. Alone, Anna handles Seryozha's meal, letters, and the shame of the journey fades. Back in habitual Petersburg life she feels resolute and irreproachable.

She recalls yesterday and tells herself it was nothing: Vronsky said something silly, easy to stop, and speaking to her husband would attach importance to what has none. She remembers telling Karenin about a subordinate's advance and his answer that every woman faces such incidents and he trusts her tact without jealousy. So then there is no reason to speak of it, she decides, and indeed, thank God, there is nothing to speak of.