Prince Stepan Arkadyevitch Oblonsky is a civil servant who has been unfaithful to his wife Darya Alexandrovna; Anna Karenina, Stiva's sister, persuades Dolly not to leave him.

Anna returns home with young Vronsky following behind in hopes of winning her over, only to realise she is devoted to her husband and family; in time, romance buds between the young Vronsky and Anna.

Sergei Karenin enters Vronsky's room and informs him that the Russians have stopped the Japanese, taken several hills and captured a dozen guns.

The general enters Vronsky's room and asks if he needs any help; Vronsky asks to be transported to Imachen, where his cousin is stationed.

Sitting in his room, Sergei Karenin and Vronsky reflect on Anna's strange desire to suffer; Karenin asks Vronsky if he really loved her, which he is unable to answer.

Vronsky, lost in thought, sits and listens to a soldier sing a song about fatal love while Sergei Karenin comes out of the operating theatre and looks in his direction.