LISA. Thank you. I have a great favour to ask of you, and I have no one to turn to but you.
KARÉNIN. Anything in my power …
LISA. You know all about …?
KARÉNIN. I do.
ANNA PÁVLOVNA. Well then, I shall leave you [To Sásha] Come, we'll leave them alone. [Exit with Sásha].
LISA. Yes, he wrote to me saying that he considers everything at an end … [struggling with her tears] … and I was hurt!… and so … In a word, I consented to break—I answered, accepting his renunciation.
KARÉNIN. And now you repent?
LISA. Yes. I feel that I was wrong, and that I cannot do it. Anything is better than to be separated from him. In short—I want you to give him this letter.… Please, Victor, give him the letter, and tell him … and bring him back!
KARÉNIN [surprised] Yes, but how?
LISA. Tell him I ask him to forget everything, and to return. I might simply send the letter, but I know him: his first impulse, as always, will be the right one—but then someone will influence him, and he'll change his mind and not do what he really wants to.…