And evidently suppressing his vexation with difficulty, he turned away from the boy.

“You ought not to have been here at all,” he said.

The conversation at supper was not about politics or societies, but turned on the subject Nikoláy liked best⁠—recollections of 1812. Denísov started these and Pierre was particularly agreeable and amusing about them. The family separated on the most friendly terms.

After supper Nikoláy, having undressed in his study and given instructions to the steward who had been waiting for him, went to the bedroom in his dressing gown, where he found his wife still at her table, writing.

“What are you writing, Márya?” Nikoláy asked.

Countess Márya blushed. She was afraid that what she was writing would not be understood or approved by her husband.