Vronsky tests Petersburg Society

In Petersburg they take the best hotel, Vronsky on the first floor and Anna upstairs with the baby and the nurse. He tells his brother he regards the union as a marriage, hopes for a divorce, and expects relatives who wish to be treated as relatives to receive his wife. Then he makes his terrible mistake: he has become, without noticing, an advocate of progress, and supposes public opinion may have changed. A man can sit with his legs doubled up for hours if he knows nothing prevents him stretching them, and gets cramp the moment he knows he must — so Vronsky tests Society, and finds that the raised arms that let him into the circle drop to keep Anna out. Betsy's delight cools at the word divorce; she calls for ten minutes, proud of her boldness, and advises getting married, since nowadays ça se fait. Varya refuses outright: she has daughters growing up and cannot raise Anna. Karenin's name is in every mouth, like a sore finger knocked against everything. And Anna has a new mood he cannot read.

The doubled-up legs are Tolstoy's finest image for a prohibition felt only once it is known: Vronsky's suffering begins at the moment he tests the rule rather than at the rule. Varya is allowed a reasonable, gently delivered refusal, which is worse than contempt — the system needs no villains. Vronsky notices the insults and Anna does not, and the asymmetry is left standing as a warning.