Dolly says she must legalize her position, but Anna Karenina does not want to talk about anything concerning her husband. When Dolly tells her she should not always take a gloomy view of things, Anna Karenina insists she is always cheerful—and she even has an admirer in Veslovsky. Dolly says she is not impressed with the man’s tone, but Anna Karenina insists he is just a boy and she has him quite under control. Suddenly the conversation turns again, and she tells Dolly that there is not one moment when she does not think about marrying Vronsky and it is likely to drive her mad. She often has to take morphine to sleep.

They finally talk about divorce. Anna Karenina says she has thought about it a thousand times and knows that Alexey Alexandrovitch will not give her a divorce because he is now under the influence of Countess Lidia Ivanovna. If she does write, she will humiliate herself; but even if he consents, she will lose her son. Seryozha will grow up to despise her just like his father, whom she abandoned. She loves Seryozha and Vronsky equally and she loves them both more than herself. By this time, Anna Karenina is shaking with emotion

It is clear to her that she cannot have both people she loves with her together, for having one excludes the other. It is the only thing she wants, and since she cannot have that she cares about nothing else. This is why she cannot and does not talk about it; she asks Dolly not to judge or blame her because she cannot understand everything she is suffering. Then she sits quietly down next to Dolly. She asks what Dolly is thinking and begs her not to despise her then turns away and bursts into tears.

Left alone, Dolly says her prayers and goes to bed. While she had felt for Anna Karenina with all her heart while she was speaking to her, now she cannot even force herself to think of her. She dreams of her home and her children, things that now seem so sweet and precious that she does not want to spend another moment away from them. Back in her room, Anna Karenina drinks wine laced with morphine and is soothed. Vronsky enters the bedroom and is again struck by her beauty. He hopes she will talk with him about what she and Dolly discussed, but she does not.

Despite her hosts’ protests, Dolly heads home the next morning. Only Anna Karenina is sad, knowing that no one else will stir up within her soul the feelings she expressed last night. Though it hurts to think about such things, she knows that it is the best part of who she is and it will “quickly be smothered” in this life she is leading.

As they drive away, Dolly feels an immense relief. The coachman complains that the food was good but not plentiful; he is glad it is not so at Levin’s home. The horses were exquisite, but it seemed rather a dreary place to him. Everything at home is particularly charming, and Dolly speaks highly of the Vronskys and will not listen to any criticism of them, forgetting the dissatisfaction and awkwardness she felt while she was there.