“Oh yes,” she answered. “You noticed nothing?” her look asked.

Pierre was in an agreeable after-dinner mood. He looked straight before him and smiled quietly.

“Have you known that young man long, Princess?” he asked.

“Who?”

“Drubetskóy.”

“No, not long....”

“Do you like him?”

“Yes, he is an agreeable young man.... Why do you ask me that?” said Princess Mary, still thinking of that morning’s conversation with her father.

“Because I have noticed that when a young man comes on leave from Petersburg to Moscow it is usually with the object of marrying an heiress.”

“You have observed that?” said Princess Mary.