Anna Karenina wore two bouquets of fresh pansies with colorful petals, one adorning the laces of her bodice and another in her curly hair, embellished with little feathers and a lace bow. Clementine has braided broken feathers together to look like flowers, tied them to her bodice, and woven them into her thick hair, beneath the hat, which, at first sight, looks like part of her cloak.

Aleksandra ponders this bizarre outfit but doesn’t appreciate its worth. She smiles politely in silence, thinking, Giorgi is crazy, what a strange woman he’s managed to find….

8. Intermission at the Concert

8. Intermission at the Concert

When the concert breaks for intermission, Claudia says loudly, “Wagner bewilders me!” and with a gesture that says, I’ve had enough, she moves on to another subject. The sensory overload has made her forget her worries. Her lovely white dress, made of silk overlaid with lace, still shows a trace of her discombobulation: the lace she wears to cover her décolletage is out of place, twisted to one side.

Sergei gets up, the last composition still in his head, Anton Rubinstein’s Concerto no. 4 for Piano. He’s moving toward the door of the box when a stranger accosts him. In French, he introduces himself as the new ambassador to St. Petersburg, mumbling an incomprehensible name and omitting the nation he represents.

“The person you need to meet is my wife, the daughter of Ambassador—”

“Yes, I know who she is, it would be a pleasure to meet her. But I’m more interested in you. You see …” He takes a step into the box, cornering Sergei. “I’ve read Tolstoy’s novel so many times that you could even say I’ve memorized it. I’m overcome by the incredible opportunity to speak with one of its characters….”

“Your excellency,” Claudia interrupts, getting out of her seat; she’s been listening, trying to distinguish a foreign accent in that perfect Parisian French. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. Shall we go down to toast your arrival in St. Petersburg with a glass of champagne? We’ll have plenty more opportunities to chat about a lot of things. But first we must welcome you.”

Claudia offers him her arm, smiling, and continues speaking. “The pleasure is mine. I’m Claudine Karenina,” she emphasizes the a at the end of her name, the way the French do. “Where were you stationed last? You know …”

She doesn’t stop speaking and brings the foreigner along with her; he can’t decline her company. Claudia is beguiling. It’s clear from her familiar gestures and her tone of voice that she’s cast the net of her charms over him.

Sergei overhears the ambassador saying, “When I read Anna Karenina …”