\"Andbecause，\"Pierrecontinued，\"onlyonewhobelievesthatthereisaGodrulinguscanbearalosssuchashersand……yours。\"
Natashahadalreadyopenedhermouthtospeakbutsuddenlystopped。PierrehurriedlyturnedawayfromherandagainaddressedPrincessMary，askingabouthisfriend’slastdays。
Pierre’sconfusionhadnowalmostvanished，butatthesametimehefeltthathisfreedomhadalsocompletelygone。Hefeltthattherewasnowajudgeofhiseverywordandactionwhosejudgmentmatteredmoretohimthanthatofalltherestoftheworld。AshespokenowhewasconsideringwhatimpressionhiswordswouldmakeonNatasha。Hedidnotpurposelysaythingstopleaseher，butwhateverhewassayingheregardedfromherstandpoint。
PrincessMary—reluctantlyasisusualinsuchcases—begantellingoftheconditioninwhichshehadfoundPrinceAndrew。ButPierre’sfacequiveringwithemotion，hisquestionsandhiseagerrestlessexpression，graduallycompelledhertogointodetailswhichshefearedtorecallforherownsake。
\"Yes，yes，andso……？\"Pierrekeptsayingasheleanedtowardherwithhiswholebodyandeagerlylistenedtoherstory。\"Yes，yes……sohegrewtranquilandsoftened？Withallhissoulhehadalwayssoughtonething—tobeperfectlygood—sohecouldnotbeafraidofdeath。Thefaultshehad—ifhehadany—werenotofhismaking。Sohedidsoften？……Whatahappythingthathesawyouagain，\"headded，suddenlyturningtoNatashaandlookingatherwitheyesfulloftears。