During the interval a whiff of cold air enters Hélène's box and Anatole comes in, stooping so as not to brush anyone. Hélène's eyes shift uneasily from Natásha to her brother as she introduces him. Natásha smiles over her bare shoulder. He sits beside her and says he has wished this happiness since the Narýshkins' ball. With women he is simpler than among men. She is struck that there is nothing formidable in him, only a naïve, good-natured smile. He tells her how Semënova fell on the stage, then, calling her Countess as if they were old acquaintances, says they are getting up a costume tournament at the Karágins' and she ought to take part.
His smiling eyes never leave her face, neck, and arms. She knows he is enraptured, which pleases her, yet his presence constrains her. When she is not looking she feels him looking at her shoulders and catches his eye so he will look into hers instead. Within five minutes she feels terribly near him. She fears he might seize her bare arm from behind and kiss her neck. Ordinary talk, and yet closer than she has ever been to any man. She glances at Hélène and at her father for meaning; Hélène is busy with a general, and the count's eyes say only that he is glad she is having a good time. She blushes asking how he likes Moscow. He answers that a town is pleasant for its pretty women, and now he likes it very much. He asks for a flower as a pledge. She turns away as if she had not heard, then cannot refrain from looking back. His nearness vanquishes her. She smiles as he does, and again feels with horror that no barrier of modesty lies between them.
The curtain rises. Anatole leaves, serene. Natásha returns to her father, submissive to this world; thoughts of her betrothed, Princess Mary, and the country belong to a remote past. In the fourth act she sees only a devil who disappears through the boards, because she cannot help watching Kurágin. Leaving, he calls their carriage, helps them in, and presses her arm above the elbow. At home, at tea, she suddenly remembers Prince Andrew, flushes, exclaims, and runs out. O God, I am lost. Alone, the theatre's simplicity collapses. She cannot tell Sónya, whose views would be horror. She tells herself nothing happened, nobody will know, she will never see him again, so Andrew can love her still. Why still? Instinct says the former purity of that love has perished, and she sees again the tender smile when he pressed her arm.
Coming Up in Chapter 156
Anatole Kuragin stays in Moscow because his father has sent him from Petersburg, where he spends twenty thousand rubles a year besides running up as much again in debts. The old prince pays half those debts for the last time only if Anatole serves as adjutant to the commander in chief and tries to make a good match.
