Vronsky sees the husband's ears

Vronsky does not sleep either, sitting with his eyes straight ahead, looking at a nervous young Law Court official as at a street lamp until the man makes grimaces at being refused recognition as human. He feels himself a king — not because he believes he has made an impression on Anna but because of the impression she has made on him — and does not consider what will come of it. At Petersburg he waits by the carriage to see her walk and turn her head, and instead sees Karenin, whom the station-master is conducting through the crowd. Only now does he believe in the husband's existence, and the round hat, the swinging thighs and the wide short feet offend him like an animal muddying a spring. Watching the couple meet, he notes her slight embarrassment and decides she cannot love him. Karenin recalls him coldly, mentions Mondays, and jokes about his own devotion all the way to the carriage.

Vronsky's refusal to see the official as a man and his refusal to believe in the husband are the same defect, placed side by side. Tolstoy lets him reach the conclusion he wants — she cannot love him — from evidence that supports it, which is the trap. Karenin's bantering tone, met for the first time, already sounds like a man defending himself.