“One moment, Princess, one moment, my dear! Is this his son?” said the countess, turning to Nikolúshka who was coming in with Dessalles. “There will be room for everybody, this is a big house. Oh, what a lovely boy!”

The countess took Princess Márya into the drawing room, where Sónya was talking to Mademoiselle Bourienne. The countess caressed the boy, and the old count came in and welcomed the princess. He had changed very much since Princess Márya had last seen him. Then he had been a brisk, cheerful, self-assured old man; now he seemed a pitiful, bewildered person. While talking to Princess Márya he continually looked round as if asking everyone whether he was doing the right thing. After the destruction of Moscow and of his property, thrown out of his accustomed groove he seemed to have lost the sense of his own significance and to feel that there was no longer a place for him in life.