Chapter 19 – Unacceptable Traits (2)
Karenin finished his trip quickly, just as he had expected. As he was leaving, Mr. De Malere’s wife, the twenty-five-year-old Mrs. De Malere, looked at him with her jade-green eyes, fetching smiling as she spoke, “Don’t forget to bring your wife to the ball in two days! We are all looking forward to meeting her. We’ve heard that she’s a beauty!” she jovially invited. Karenin nodded politely.
“I will.”
“My dear Karenin, I am not yet finished here. If you do not mind, please allow my wife to send you off.” Mr. De Malere spoke with his thick voice.
He was too fat, his eyes disappearing when he smiled. He was fifteen years older than Karenin and was a man of a kind heart. But he wasn’t that capable. It was obvious that his wife was his most valuable asset.
Karenin accepted, and Mr. De Malere kissed his wife. It was just a short departure, yet he already displayed a strong longing for her.
“Please come with me, Mr. Karenin.” Mrs. De Malere smiled as she spoke. With her smile, the red dot at the right side of her mouth became even more moving with the appearance of her dimple.
Mrs. De Malere’s female servant followed behind her. After walking for about twenty to thirty-meter, Mrs. De Malere suddenly asked: “Uma, have you seen my ring?”
“No, Madame.”
Indeed, the servant, named Uma, had noticed that her lady’s most prized sapphire ring was missing now that she mentioned it.
“Go to the dressing room and see if it is there. I must have forgotten to put it back on after taking it off.” Mrs. De Malere spoke softly to her servant, looking around as she fumbled with her hands. After she left, she smiled once again at Karenin.
“I apologize for taking much of your time.”
“It is alright, Madame.”
“It is a ring that I really like.” Mrs. De Malere’s expressions were pleasant and pleasing.
“I can see that you have a habit of twisting your rings.” Karenin said.
Mrs. De Malere was a bit surprised, then smiled as she said: “You are always so attentive in your observations. Two years ago, when you told someone to remind me that my dress had a tear, I had recognized that you were attentive to the slightest of details. It was all thanks to you that I did not embarrass myself.”
“It was nothing, Madame.”
When they reached the entrance, Karenin thanked Mrs. De Malere once again, then took Binos’ carriage all the way back to the hotel.
Once Karenin arrived at the hotel, he walked to his suite on the third floor. When he opened the door, he found that there was no one in the parlor. Closing the door, he decided to go to the bedroom.
Once he arrived, he saw that the door to the bedroom was slightly opened, the room dark, and the atmosphere very quiet. Was his wife around? Or did she leave?
Deciding standing idly wasn’t going to get him answers, he pushed pass the bedroom door.
And there he saw that there was a lump among the messy blankets. His wife was currently in the center of this tangled mass. Her body was curled tight, but there was still half of her back that was left bare and uncovered.
Karenin had never seen someone in such a deep sleep. In other words, his little bride slept in the type of manner of someone who wouldn’t wake even in the midst of disaster.
Karenin walked over and reached out for a piece of the blanket that laid unused from her grasp. He opened it up before draping it on her exposed back. He gathered his documents, closed the bedroom door behind him, and walked out. He then sat on the couch as he finally began to work. After about an hour into his work, the bedroom door opened.
“How long did you sleep, Anna?” Karenin asked as he closed his documents. For some reason, he was a little curious.
After Anna had awakened, she had noticed that Karenin had returned. The coat hung by the door was a dead giveaway. In the beginning, she had felt embarrassed for herself, knowing the tangled mess she had been on the bed. And so she decided she had to change into something more suitable before coming out of the room after fixing her hair.
Now, when asked how long she had slept, she was still a little embarrassed.
“Six hours?” she answered a little unsurely.
“You slept for a fourth of the day,” Karenin concluded. His tone was too dull for his message to be mockery, but the possibility of it being praise was logically improbable. He was giving her a pointed stare. He was disappointed she didn’t follow through with his suggestion.
In the end, she decided to stop thinking about it, pretending that this matter had already passed. Sitting next to Karenin, she asked, “Can we go now to eat?”
“There’s still an hour until the normal dining time.” he answered swiftly, and Anna pouted, a little disappointed. It wasn’t until shortly after did she hear Karenin speak again. “But if you are hungry, then perhaps we can eat now.”
Before he could even finish, Karenin earned himself her bright smile and blushing cheeks of his little bride.