ThereisreallyonlyonecircleofPeterburguppersociety:everyoneknowseveryoneelse，evenvisitseachother。Butthisgreatcirclehassubdivisionsofitsown。AnnaArkadyevnaKareninahadfriendsandclosetiesinthreedifferentcircles。Onecirclewasherhusband’ssetofcivilservantsandofficials，consistingofhiscolleaguesandsubordinates，broughttogetherinamostdiversifiedandcapriciousmanner，yetseparatedbysocialconditions。Annacouldnowrecallonlywithdifficultythefeelingofalmostpiousreverencewhichshehadatfirstborneforthesepersons。Nowsheknewallofthem，aspeopleknowoneanotherinaprovincialtown；sheknewtheirhabitsandweaknesses，andwheretheshoepinchedeachoneofthem。Sheknewtheirattitudestowardoneanotherandtothechiefcenter；knewwhobackedwhom，andhowandwherewithaleachonemaintainedhisposition，andwhoagreedordisagreedwithwhom；butthiscircleofpolitical，masculineinterestscouldnotinteresther，and，inspiteofCountessLidiaIvanovna’ssuggestions，sheavoidedit。
Anothersmallcircle，withwhichAnnawasintimate，wastheonebymeansofwhichAlexeiAlexandrovichhadmadehiscareer。ThecenterofthiscirclewastheCountessLidiaIvanovna。Thiswasacircleofelderly，homely，virtuousandpiouswomen，andclever，learnedandambitiousmen。Oneofthecleverpeoplebelongingtothissmallcirclehadcalledit`theconscienceofPeterburgsociety。’AlexeiAlexandrovichappreciatedthiscircleverymuch，andAnna，whoknewsowellhowtogetonwithall，hadintheearlydaysofherlifeinPeterburgfoundfriendseveninthiscircle。Butnow，uponherreturnfromMoscow，thissethadbecomeunbearabletoher。Itseemedtoherthatbothsheandallofthemweredissimulating，andsheexperiencedsuchboredomandlackofeaseintheirsocietythatshetriedtovisittheCountessLidiaIvanovnaasinfrequentlyaspossible。
And，finally，thethirdcirclewithwhichAnnahadtieswasthereallyfashionableworld-theworldofballs，ofdinners，ofsumptuousdresses；theworldthathungontothecourtwithonehand，inordernottosinktothelevelofthedemimonde，whichthemembersofthefashionableworldbelievedtheydespised-yetthetastesofbothwerenotonlysimilar，butpreciselythesame。HerconnectionwiththiscirclewasmaintainedthroughPrincessBetsyTverskaia，hercousin’swife，whohadanincomeofahundredandtwentythousandroubles，andwhohadtakenagreatlikingtoAnnaeversinceshefirstcameout，lookingafterheranddrawingherintoherowncircle，pokingfunatthatofCountessLidiaIvanovna。
`WhenI’moldandshallhavelostmylooks，I’llbethesame，’Betsyusedtosay；`butforayoungandprettywomanlikeyouit’smuchtooearlytojointhatOldLadies’Home。’
Annahadatfirstavoided，asmuchasshecould，PrincessTverskaia’sworld，becauseitnecessitatedexpendituresabovehermeans-and，besides，atsoulshepreferredthefirstcircle；butafterhertriptoMoscow，thingsfelloutquitetheotherway。Sheavoidedhermoralfriends，andwentoutintothefashionableworld。ThereshewouldmeetVronsky，andexperiencedanagitatingjoyatsuchmeetings。EspeciallyoftendidshemeetVronskyatBetsy’s，forBetsywasaVronskybybirth，andhiscousin。VronskywenteverywherewherehemightmeetAnna，and，ateverychancehehad，spoketoherofhislove。Sheofferedhimnoencouragement，yeteverytimeshemethimtherewaskindledinhersoulthatsamefeelingofanimationwhichhadcomeuponherthatdayintherailwaycarriagewhenshehadseenhimforthefirsttime。Shefeltherselfthatherdelightshoneinhereyesandpuckeredherlipsintoasmile-andshecouldnotquenchtheexpressionofthisdelight。