The countess began to soothe Natasha, who after first listening to her mother's words, suddenly interrupted her: "Leave off, Mamma! I don't think, and don't want to think about it! He just came and then left off, left off..." Her voice trembled, and she again nearly cried, but recovered and went on quietly: "And I don't at all want to get married.

And I am afraid of him; I have now become quite calm, quite calm.

" The day after this conversation Natasha put on the old dress which she knew had the peculiar property of conducing to cheerfulness in the mornings, and that day she returned to the old way of life which she had abandoned since the ball.