Vronsky understood that it was vain to make any further attempts and that they would have to spend those few days in Petersburg as in a strange town, avoiding contact with their former world in order not to lay themselves open to unpleasantnesses and insults which were so painful to him.
Vronskij capì che ulteriori tentativi erano inutili e che bisognava passare quei pochi giorni a Pietroburgo come in un paese straniero, sfuggendo ogni rapporto col mondo di prima per non sottomettersi a dispiaceri e affronti, così tormentosi per lui.