The princess sat in her armchair, silent and smiling; the prince sat down beside her. Kitty stood by her father's chair, still holding his hand. All were silent.

The princess was the first to put everything into words, and to translate all thoughts and feelings into practical questions. And all equally felt this strange and painful for the first minute.

"When is it to be? We must have the benediction¹ and announcement. And when's the wedding to be? What do you think, Alexander?"

"Here he is," said the old prince, pointing to Levin--"he's the principal person in the matter."

"When?" said Levin blushing. "Tomorrow; If you ask me, I should say, the benediction today and the wedding tomorrow."

"Come, mon cher, that's nonsense!"

"Well, in a week."

"He's quite mad."

"No, why so?"

"Well, upon my word!" said the mother, smiling, delighted at this haste. "How about the trousseau?"

"Will there really be a trousseau and all that?" Levin thought with horror. "But can the trousseau and the benediction and all that--can it spoil my happiness? Nothing can spoil it!" He glanced at Kitty, and noticed that she was not in the least, not in the very least, disturbed by the idea of the trousseau. "Then it must be all right," he thought.

"Oh, I know nothing about it; I only said what I should like," he said apologetically.

"We'll talk it over, then. The benediction and announcement can take place now. That's very well."

The princess went up to her husband, kissed him, and would have gone away, but he kept her, embraced her, and tenderly as a young lover, kissed her several times, smiling. The old people were obviously muddled² for a moment, and did not quite know whether it was they who were in love again or their daughter. When the prince and the princess had gone, Levin went up to his betrothed³ and took her hand. He was self-possessed now and could speak, and he had a great deal he wanted to tell her. But he said not at all what he had to say.

"How I knew it would be so! I never hoped for it; and yet in my heart I was always sure," he said. "I believe that it was ordained⁴."

"And I!" she said. "Even when...." She stopped and went on again, looking at him

点击收听单词发音  

1 benediction
n.祝福；恩赐
参考例句：
The priest pronounced a benediction over the couple at the end of the marriage ceremony.牧师在婚礼结束时为新婚夫妇祈求上帝赐福。 He went abroad with his parents' benediction.他带着父母的祝福出国去了。

2 muddled
adj.混乱的；糊涂的；头脑昏昏然的v.弄乱，弄糟( muddle的过去式)；使糊涂；对付，混日子
参考例句：
He gets muddled when the teacher starts shouting. 老师一喊叫他就心烦意乱。 I got muddled up and took the wrong turning. 我稀里糊涂地拐错了弯。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 betrothed
n. 已订婚者 动词betroth的过去式和过去分词
参考例句：
She is betrothed to John. 她同约翰订了婚。 His daughter was betrothed to a teacher. 他的女儿同一个教师订了婚。

4 ordained
v.任命（某人）为牧师( ordain的过去式和过去分词 )；授予（某人）圣职；（上帝、法律等）命令；判定
参考例句：
He was ordained in 1984. 他在一九八四年被任命为牧师。 来自《简明英汉词典》 He was ordained priest. 他被任命为牧师。 来自辞典例句

5 resolutely
adj.坚决地，果断地
参考例句：
He resolutely adhered to what he had said at the meeting. 他坚持他在会上所说的话。 He grumbles at his lot instead of resolutely facing his difficulties. 他不是果敢地去面对困难，而是抱怨自己运气不佳。

6 truthful
adj.真实的，说实话的，诚实的
参考例句：
You can count on him for a truthful report of the accident.你放心，他会对事故作出如实的报告的。 I don't think you are being entirely truthful.我认为你并没全讲真话。

7 chaste
adj.贞洁的；有道德的；善良的；简朴的
参考例句：
Comparatively speaking,I like chaste poetry better.相比较而言，我更喜欢朴实无华的诗。 Tess was a chaste young girl.苔丝是一个善良的少女。

8 agonizing
adj.痛苦难忍的；使人苦恼的v.使极度痛苦；折磨(agonize的ing形式)
参考例句：
I spent days agonizing over whether to take the job or not. 我用了好些天苦苦思考是否接受这个工作。 his father's agonizing death 他父亲极度痛苦的死

9 affected
adj.不自然的，假装的
参考例句：
She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。 His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

10 absurdity
n.荒谬，愚蠢；谬论
参考例句：
The proposal borders upon the absurdity.这提议近乎荒谬。 The absurdity of the situation made everyone laugh.情况的荒谬可笑使每个人都笑了。

11 discomfort
n.不舒服，不安，难过，困难，不方便
参考例句：
One has to bear a little discomfort while travelling.旅行中总要忍受一点不便。 She turned red with discomfort when the teacher spoke.老师讲话时她不好意思地红着脸。

12 intensity
n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度
参考例句：
I didn't realize the intensity of people's feelings on this issue.我没有意识到这一问题能引起群情激奋。 The strike is growing in intensity.罢工日益加剧。

13 thereby
adv.因此，从而
参考例句：
I have never been to that city,,ereby I don't know much about it.我从未去过那座城市，因此对它不怎么熟悉。 He became a British citizen,thereby gaining the right to vote.他成了英国公民，因而得到了投票权。

14 bouquets
n.花束( bouquet的名词复数 )；（酒的）芳香
参考例句：
The welcoming crowd waved their bouquets. 欢迎的群众摇动着花束。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》 As the hero stepped off the platform, he was surrounded by several children with bouquets. 当英雄走下讲台时，已被几名手持花束的儿童围住了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 galloped
（使马）飞奔，奔驰( gallop的过去式和过去分词 )； 快速做[说]某事
参考例句：
Jo galloped across the field towards him. 乔骑马穿过田野向他奔去。 The children galloped home as soon as the class was over. 孩子们一下课便飞奔回家了。

16 previously
adv.以前，先前（地）
参考例句：
The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。 Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

17 callous
adj.无情的，冷淡的，硬结的，起老茧的
参考例句：
He is callous about the safety of his workers.他对他工人的安全毫不关心。 She was selfish,arrogant and often callous.她自私傲慢，而且往往冷酷无情。

18 delicacy
n.精致，细微，微妙，精良；美味，佳肴
参考例句：
We admired the delicacy of the craftsmanship.我们佩服工艺师精巧的手艺。 He sensed the delicacy of the situation.他感觉到了形势的微妙。

19 conclusively
adv.令人信服地，确凿地
参考例句：
All this proves conclusively that she couldn't have known the truth. 这一切无可置疑地证明她不可能知道真相。 来自《简明英汉词典》 From the facts,he was able to determine conclusively that the death was not a suicide. 根据这些事实他断定这起死亡事件并非自杀。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 admiration
n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕
参考例句：
He was lost in admiration of the beauty of the scene.他对风景之美赞不绝口。 We have a great admiration for the gold medalists.我们对金牌获得者极为敬佩。

21 confession
n.自白，供认，承认
参考例句：
Her confession was simply tantamount to a casual explanation.她的自白简直等于一篇即席说明。 The police used torture to extort a confession from him.警察对他用刑逼供。

22 anguish
n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼
参考例句：
She cried out for anguish at parting.分手时，她由于痛苦而失声大哭。 The unspeakable anguish wrung his heart.难言的痛苦折磨着他的心。

23 decided
adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的
参考例句：
This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。 There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

24 miserable
adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的
参考例句：
It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。 Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

25 undo
vt.解开，松开；取消，撤销
参考例句：
His pride will undo him some day.他的傲慢总有一天会毁了他。 I managed secretly to undo a corner of the parcel.我悄悄地设法解开了包裹的一角。

26 shameful
adj.可耻的，不道德的
参考例句：
It is very shameful of him to show off.他向人炫耀自己，真不害臊。 We must expose this shameful activity to the newspapers.我们一定要向报社揭露这一无耻行径。

27 appalled
v.使惊骇，使充满恐惧( appall的过去式和过去分词)adj.惊骇的；丧胆的
参考例句：
The brutality of the crime has appalled the public. 罪行之残暴使公众大为震惊。 They were appalled by the reports of the nuclear war. 他们被核战争的报道吓坏了。 来自《简明英汉词典》