“Alone all the same, without my friends.⁠ ⁠… And he expects me not to be afraid.”

Her tone was now querulous and her lip drawn up, giving her not a joyful, but an animal, squirrel-like expression. She paused as if she felt it indecorous to speak of her pregnancy before Pierre, though the gist of the matter lay in that.

“I still can’t understand what you are afraid of,” said Prince Andréy slowly, not taking his eyes off his wife.

The princess blushed, and raised her arms with a gesture of despair.

“No, Andréy, I must say you have changed. Oh, how you have⁠ ⁠…”

“Your doctor tells you to go to bed earlier,” said Prince Andréy. “You had better go.”