The host followed with Marya Antonovna Naryshkina; then came ambassadors, ministers, and various generals, whom Peronskaya diligently named.

More than half the ladies already had partners and were taking up, or preparing to take up, their positions for the polonaise.

Natasha felt that she would be left with her mother and Sonya among a minority of women who crowded near the wall, not having been invited to dance.

She stood with her slender arms hanging down, her scarcely defined bosom rising and falling regularly, and with bated breath and glittering, frightened eyes gazed straight before her, evidently prepared for the height of joy or misery.