He might have been expected to understand that Society was closed to him and Anna; but some sort of vague notion got into his head that though it used to be so in olden times, yet now, when there was so much progress (without noticing it, he had become an advocate of every kind of progress), public opinion had changed and it was possible that they would be received in Society.
Sembrava che egli avrebbe dovuto capire come la società fosse preclusa a lui e ad Anna; adesso invece nella sua testa erano sorte certe nuove confuse considerazioni, che, cioè, così era soltanto nei tempi passati, ma che ora, col rapido progresso (senza accorgersene era divenuto seguace d’ogni progresso), il giudizio della società era mutato e che la questione, se essi sarebbero stati ricevuti in società, non era ancora risolta.