four o’clock
She remembered how she had told her husband of what was almost a declaration made her at Petersburg by a young man , one of her husband 's subordinates , and how Alexey Alexandrovitch had answered that every woman living in the world was exposed to such incidents , but that he had the fullest confidence in her tact , and could never lower her and himself by jealousy . `` So then there 's no reason to speak of it ? And indeed , thank God , there 's nothing to speak of , '' she told herself . Alexey Alexandrovitch came back from the meeting of the ministers at four o'clock , but as often happened , he had not time to come in to her . He went into his study to see the people waiting for him with petitions , and to sign some papers brought him by his chief secretary . At dinner time -LRB- there were always a few people dining with the Karenins -RRB- there arrived an old lady , a cousin of Alexey Alexandrovitch , the chief secretary of the department and his wife , and a young man who had been recommended to Alexey Alexandrovitch for the service . Anna went into the drawing-room to receive these guests .