It seemed to Natásha that even at the time she first saw Prince Andréy at Otrádnoe she had fallen in love with him. It was as if she feared this strange, unexpected happiness of meeting again the very man she had then chosen (she was firmly convinced she had done so) and of finding him, as it seemed, not indifferent to her.

“And it had to happen that he should come specially to Petersburg while we are here. And it had to happen that we should meet at that ball. It is fate. Clearly it is fate that everything led up to this! Already then , directly I saw him I felt something peculiar.”

“What else did he say to you? What are those verses? Read them⁠ ⁠…” said her mother, thoughtfully, referring to some verses Prince Andréy had written in Natásha’s album.

“Mamma, one need not be ashamed of his being a widower?”

“Don’t, Natásha! Pray to God. ‘Marriages are made in heaven,’ ” said her mother.