Part 8, Chapters 13-17 Summary

Count Rostov takes his two girls to the Bezuhovs that evening. Helene throws together an improvised ball. During a waltz Anatole tells Natasha that she's bewitching, and he loves her. She tells him to not say such things to her because she's betrothed and in love with another man.

Natasha doesn't sleep that night, wondering which man she loves. Maria Dmitrievna has gone to see Old Bolkonsky to try to persuade him to allow Andrew to marry Natasha sooner. Old Bolkonsky doesn't budge, so Maria Dmitrievna advises the count to take the girls home to the country to wait until Andrew's return. Count Rostov approves of the suggestion. A maid secretly gives Natasha a love letter from Anatole. It says, "Since yesterday evening my fate is sealed: to be loved by you or to die. There is nothing else...