When Princess Mary comes down, treading on her heels, Prince Vasíli and Anatole are already with Lise and Mademoiselle Bourienne. She sees Vasíli's face turn serious then smile, Lise watching the impression "Marie" makes, Bourienne's animated look fixed on him, and something large and brilliant moving toward her. She kisses Vasíli's forehead, then feels Anatole's soft hand and light-brown hair smelling of pomade. Looking up, she is struck by his beauty. He stands with a thumb under a uniform button, swinging one foot, examining her hair, able to be silent as if anyone inconvenienced may talk. Lise fabricates shared jokes about Annette's receptions and tea tables; Vasíli plays along and even draws Anatole into memories that never happened. Mention of Paris lets Bourienne join in. Anatole answers her readily and decides Bald Hills will not be dull: the little companion is not at all bad; he hopes she will come along when they are married.
The old prince dresses slowly, angry that these visitors revive the question he stifles: whether he can part from Mary. Life without her is unthinkable, though he seems to value her little. Lise is not happy with Andrew; who would take Marie for love rather than wealth and connections? Yet Vasíli has come to propose, and birth and position are not bad. "That is what we shall see," he says aloud. He notices Mary's unbecoming coiffure, Bourienne's ribbon, Anatole's smiles, and his daughter's loneliness in the chatter. He tells her never to change her dress without his consent; she is plain enough as it is. Lise blushes and takes the blame. He questions Anatole about service, laughs when the young man does not know what he is attached to, then frowns and sends him back to the ladies. In the study Vasíli states his hopes. The old prince will not prevent her: he is ready tomorrow, but he must know the son-in-law, and he will ask her in their presence. If she is willing, Anatole may stay.
Male presence lights the household. Mary grows unconscious of her face and sees kindness and courage in the man who might be her husband; she fears she is too cold. Anatole thinks, "Poor girl, she's devilish ugly!" Bourienne, waiting for a Russian prince to carry her off, already groups her pauvre mère story around him. Lise, like an old war horse at a trumpet, slips into coquetry. After tea Mary plays her favourite sonata; Anatole leans on his elbows beside Bourienne, and the look Mary feels as poetry is aimed at the Frenchwoman's foot under the clavichord. At parting he kisses Mary's hand, then Bourienne's (not etiquette, but he does it with assurance). Mary, reading delicacy, kisses her companion warmly. Lise refuses her hand until his father writes that he is behaving well, raises a finger, and leaves the room.
Coming Up in Chapter 54
They all separate, but except Anatole, who falls asleep as soon as he gets into bed, all keep awake a long time that night. Princess Mary wonders whether this kind stranger is really to be her husband, then rings for her maid and asks her to sleep in the room.
