She made no answer, but simply gazed at him.

He went on: "One day a son may be born, my son, and he will be legally a Karenin; he will not be the heir of my name nor of my property, and however happy we may be in our home life and however many children we may have, there will be no real tie between us.

They will be Karenins.

You can understand the bitterness and horror of this position! I have tried to speak of this to Anna.