There was no one left in the reception room except Prince Vasily and the eldest princess, who, sitting under the portrait of Catherine, were talking animatedly about something. As soon as they saw Pierre and his guide, they fell silent. The princess hid something, as it seemed to Pierre, and whispered:

— I cannot bear the sight of that woman.

Catiche a fait donner du thé dans le petit salon, — said Prince Vasily to Anna Mikhailovna. — Allez, ma pauvre Anna Mikhailovna, prenez quelque chose, autrement vous ne suffirez pas.

He said nothing to Pierre, only squeezed his arm feelingly just below the shoulder. Pierre and Anna Mikhailovna went into the petit salon.

Il n'y a rien qui restaure, comme une tasse de cet excellent thé russe après une nuit blanche, — Lorrain was saying with an expression of restrained liveliness, sipping from a delicate, handleless Chinese cup, standing in the small round drawing-room before a table on which stood a tea service and a cold supper. All those who had been in Count Bezukhov's house that night had gathered round the table to refresh themselves. Pierre remembered well this small round drawing-room, with its mirrors and little tables. During balls in the count's house, Pierre, who did not know how to dance, loved to sit in this little mirrored room and watch the ladies in their ball gowns, with diamonds and pearls on their bare shoulders, passing through this room, looking at themselves in the brightly lit mirrors, which repeated their reflections several times. Now this same room was barely illuminated by two candles, and in the middle of the night a tea service and dishes stood haphazardly on one little table, and various, un-festive people sat in it, talking in whispers, showing by every movement, every word, that no one forgot what was happening now and what was yet to happen in the bedroom. Pierre did not eat, although he very much wanted to. He looked inquiringly at his guide and saw that she was tiptoeing back out into the reception room, where Prince Vasily had remained with the eldest princess. Pierre supposed that this too was necessary, and, after a slight hesitation, followed her. Anna Mikhailovna stood beside the princess, and both of them were speaking at the same time in agitated whispers:

— Allow me, Princess, to know what is necessary and what is not necessary, — the princess was saying, evidently in the same agitated state she had been in when she slammed the door of her room.

— But, dear Princess, — Anna Mikhailovna was saying mildly and persuasively, blocking the way from the bedroom and not letting the princess pass, — won't this be too hard on poor uncle at such moments, when he needs rest? At such moments, talk of worldly matters, when his soul is already prepared...

Prince Vasily sat in an armchair in his familiar pose, with one leg crossed high over the other. His cheeks were twitching violently and, having sagged, seemed thicker at the bottom; but he had the look of a man little concerned with the conversation of the two ladies.

Voyons, ma bonne Anna Mikhailovna, laissez faire Catiche. You know how the count loves her.

— I don't even know what is in this paper, — the princess was saying, turning to Prince Vasily and pointing to the mosaic portfolio she held in her hands. — I only know that his real will is in his bureau, and this is a forgotten paper...

She tried to bypass Anna Mikhailovna, but Anna Mikhailovna, springing up, again blocked her path.

— I know, my dear, good Princess, — said Anna Mikhailovna, seizing the portfolio with her hand, and so tightly that it was clear she would not let it go soon. — Dear Princess, I beg you, I implore you, have pity on him. Je vous en conjure...

The princess fell silent. Only the sounds of the struggle for the portfolio could be heard. It was clear that if she spoke, she would speak unflatteringly to Anna Mikhailovna. Anna Mikhailovna held on tight, but despite that, her voice retained all its sweet drawl and softness.

— Pierre, come here, my friend. I think he is not superfluous in a family council: isn't that right, Prince?

— Why are you silent, mon cousin? — the princess suddenly cried out so loudly that they heard her voice in the drawing room and were frightened. — Why are you silent, when God knows who allows herself to interfere and make scenes on the threshold of a dying man's room? Intriguer! — she whispered maliciously, and tugged the portfolio with all her might, but Anna Mikhailovna took a few steps to keep up with the portfolio and caught her hand.

— Oh! — said Prince Vasily reproachfully and in surprise. He stood up. — C'est ridicule. Voyons, let go. I'm telling you.

The princess let go.

— And you!

Anna Mikhailovna did not obey him.

— Let go, I'm telling you. I'll take everything upon myself. I'll go and ask him. I... that's enough of this from you.

Mais, mon prince, — Anna Mikhailovna was saying, — after such a great sacrament, give him a moment of peace. Here, Pierre, give us your opinion, — she turned to the young man, who, having come close to them, looked in astonishment at the embittered face of the princess, which had lost all decorum, and at the twitching cheeks of Prince Vasily.

— Remember that you will answer for all the consequences, — Prince Vasily said strictly, — you don't know what you are doing.

— Vile woman! — the princess cried out, unexpectedly throwing herself at Anna Mikhailovna and snatching the portfolio.

Prince Vasily lowered his head and spread his hands.

At that moment the door, that terrible door at which Pierre had been looking for so long and which had been opening so quietly, was thrown back quickly, with a noise, bumping against the wall, and the middle princess ran out from there and clasped her hands.

— What are you doing! — she said desperately. — Il s'en va et vous me laissez seule.

The eldest princess dropped the portfolio. Anna Mikhailovna quickly bent down, snatched up the disputed object, and ran into the bedroom. The eldest princess and Prince Vasily, coming to their senses, followed her. A few minutes later, the eldest princess was the first to emerge, with a pale and dry face and a bitten lower lip. At the sight of Pierre, her face expressed irrepressible malice.

— Yes, rejoice now, — she said, — this is what you've been waiting for.

And, bursting into sobs, she covered her face with a handkerchief and ran out of the room.

Prince Vasily came out after the princess. Staggering, he reached the sofa on which Pierre sat and fell onto it, covering his eyes with his hand. Pierre noticed that he was pale and that his lower jaw jumped and shook as if in an ague.

— Ah, my friend! — he said, taking Pierre by the elbow; and there was a sincerity and weakness in his voice that Pierre had never noticed in him before. — How much we sin, how much we deceive, and all for what? I'm in my fifties, my friend... After all, I... Everything will end in death, everything. Death is terrible. — He began to weep.

Anna Mikhailovna came out last. She approached Pierre with quiet, slow steps.

— Pierre!... — she said.

Pierre looked at her inquiringly. She kissed the young man on the forehead, moistening him with her tears. She paused.

Il n'est plus...

Pierre looked at her through his spectacles.

Allons, je vous reconduirai. Tâchez de pleurer. Rien ne soulage, comme les larmes.

She led him into the dark drawing room, and Pierre was glad that no one there saw his face. Anna Mikhailovna left him, and when she returned, he was sleeping a sound sleep, with his head resting on his arm.

The next morning Anna Mikhailovna said to Pierre:

Oui, mon cher, c'est une grande perte pour nous tous. Je ne parle pas de vous. Mais Dieu vous soutiendra, vous êtes jeune et vous voilà à la tête d'une immense fortune, je l'espère. Le testament n'a pas été encore ouvert. Je vous connais assez pour savoir que cela ne vous tournera pas la tête, mais cela vous impose des devoirs, et il faut être homme.

Pierre was silent.

Peut-être plus tard je vous dirai, mon cher, que si je n'avais pas été là, Dieu sait ce qui serait arrivé. Vous savez, mon oncle avant-hier encore me promettait de ne pas oublier Boris. Mais il n'a pas eu le temps. J'espère, mon cher ami, que vous remplirez le désir de votre père.

Pierre, understanding nothing, silently, blushing shyly, looked at Princess Anna Mikhailovna. Having finished talking to Pierre, Anna Mikhailovna drove to the Rostovs' and went to bed. Waking up in the morning, she told the Rostovs and all her acquaintances the details of Count Bezukhov's death. She said that the count had died exactly as she herself would have wished to die, that his end was not only touching, but also edifying; that the last meeting of father and son was so touching that she could not remember it without tears, and that she did not know who behaved better in those terrible moments: the father, who remembered everything and everyone so well in his last moments and said such touching words to his son, or Pierre, whom it was a pity to look at, so heartbroken was he and how, despite this, he tried to conceal his grief in order not to upset his dying father. "С'est pénible, mais cela fait du bien; ça élève l'âme de voir des hommes, comme le vieux comte et son digne fils", she said. She also recounted the actions of the princess and Prince Vasily, not approving of them, but under great secrecy and in a whisper.