Rostóv saw all this as clearly as if he had known her whole life. He felt that the being before him was quite different from, and better than, anyone he had met before, and above all better than himself.

Their conversation was very simple and unimportant. They spoke of the war, and like everyone else unconsciously exaggerated their sorrow about it; they spoke of their last meeting⁠—Nikoláy trying to change the subject⁠—they talked of the governor’s kind wife, of Nikoláy’s relations, and of Princess Márya’s.