When Karenin had first taken up his present post he had at once realized this and had wished to stop it; but, till he felt himself firmly seated, he knew that it would not be wise to do so as too many interests were involved. Afterwards, being occupied with other matters, he had simply forgotten the business.
Aleksej Aleksandrovic, entrato in carica, s’era subito accorto di tali manchevolezze, e parve voler mettere mano alla cosa; ma nei primi tempi, quando non si sentiva ancora del tutto sicuro, sapeva che la faccenda ledeva troppi interessi e non era stata bene impostata; sopravvenute poi altre questioni, se ne era semplicemente dimenticato.