Levin longed to say something to her, but he did not know whether it was all over.

The priest got him out of his difficulty.

He smiled his kindly smile and said gently, "Kiss your wife, and you kiss your husband," and took the candles out of their hands.

Levin kissed her smiling lips with timid care, gave her his arm, and with a new strange sense of closeness, walked out of the church.