"Yes," she went on, "become your mistress, and complete the ruin of..." Again she would have said "my son," but she could not utter that word.

Vronsky could not understand how she, with her strong and truthful nature, could endure this state of deceit, and not long to get out of it.

But he did not suspect that the chief cause of it was the word--_son_, which she could not bring herself to pronounce.