Berg and his wife, who were not dancing, came up to them.

This family gathering seemed humiliating to Natasha--as if there were nowhere else for the family to talk but here at the ball.

She did not listen to or look at Vera, who was telling her something about her own green dress.

At last the Emperor stopped beside his last partner (he had danced with three) and the music ceased.

A worried aide-de-camp ran up to the Rostovs requesting them to stand farther back, though as it was they were already close to the wall, and from the gallery resounded the distinct, precise, enticingly rhythmical strains of a waltz.