Pierre arrives in Moscow after the bear-and-policeman scandal, still without a career, and goes at once to his father's part of the house. The princesses receive him like a leper. The eldest pauses in her reading, says he has increased the count's mental sufferings, and sends Olga for beef tea as a dismissal. The youngest, the one with the mole, hides a laugh in her embroidery. He bows out to his rooms upstairs. Next day Prince Vasili settles in the house, sends for him, and orders him to behave and stay away from the dying man.
Isolated, Pierre paces, scowls, and plays Napoleon sentencing Pitt as a traitor, until Boris enters in uniform and quietly invites him to the Rostovs' dinner. Pierre mistakes him for Ilya Rostov's son and chatters about Madame Jacquot and the Sparrow Hills; Boris corrects him with a slight sarcastic smile and says Moscow is busy with dinner parties and scandal. Then he clears the air: everyone wonders who inherits, but he and his mother will not ask the rich man for anything. Pierre, ashamed and grateful, seizes his elbow, calls him a wonderful fellow, and presses his hand. A footman summons Boris; Pierre promises to come to dinner and decides they will be friends.
Vasili sees Anna Mikhaylovna off. She holds a handkerchief to her eyes, vows to spend the night, and says every moment is precious. In the carriage she tells Boris the count hardly recognizes anybody. Boris asks what the old man's attitude to Pierre is. The will will show that, she says; their fate also depends on it. He is so rich, and they are so poor. Patronage and pride have already collided in one hallway.
Coming Up in Chapter 17
After Anna Mikhailovna drives off with her son to visit Count Bezukhov, Countess Rostova sits a long time alone, applying her handkerchief to her eyes. At last she rings, speaks crossly to the maid who kept her waiting, and asks for the count.
