“Yes, he meant to come,” said Ellen, looking intently at Natasha.

Count Ilya Andreitch sat down again in his place.

“Handsome, isn’t she?” he whispered to Natasha.

“Exquisite!” said Natasha. “One might well fall in love with her!”

At that moment they heard the last chords of the overture, and the tapping of the conductor’s stick. Late comers hurried to their seats in the stalls, and the curtain rose.

As soon as the curtain rose, a hush fell on the boxes and stalls, and all the men, old and young, in their frock coats or uniforms, all the women with precious stones on their bare flesh concentrated all their attention with eager curiosity on the stage. Natasha too began to look at it.