After the dinner, Levin accompanies his brother Koznyshev to a meeting. Filled with joy, he finds everyone splendid and good-hearted. Levin listens to the debate on missing sums of money and the laying of sewer pipes. He concludes that the subject is unimportant to the debating members and that they merely enjoy themselves.
Levin's excitement allows him no rest that night. Toward noon the next day he arrives at the Shtcherbatskys and Kitty runs to meet him. The old prince and princess are kind and affectionate; both have tears in their eyes. Then the servants offer congratulations, and then relations begin to arrive. This is the beginning of the "blissful hubbub" which never diminishes until the wedding.
Levin feels Kitty has much to forgive. One matter is his lack of faith, but his betrothed does not care. She says she knows his soul and in it sees the goodness she values. The other item concerns his past life, and Levin regrets he is not as chaste as she. Wishing to share all his secrets, he gives her his diary, and Kitty weeps bitterly over the notebook. This confession is the one painful episode of their engagement. When she forgives him, Levin feels more than ever unworthy of her love. Morally bowed before her, he prizes his great undeserved happiness more highly than before.
Returning to his lodgings, Karenin recalls his talk with Dolly. Annoyed at her reminder of Christian forgiveness — "love those that hate you" — Karenin turns to consider his tour of inspection in the provinces. First he reads his two telegrams. One contains news that Stemov received the very appointment he had coveted for himself. The second is from Anna. "I am dying," she writes. "I beg, I implore you to come. I shall die easier with your forgiveness." Realizing her confinement is near, he decides the note is not just a trick. He will leave for Petersburg right away, perform his last duty to her, retaining his self respect despite everything. But he cannot drive away the reflection that her death would solve his most pressing problem.
