THERE WAS NO formal betrothal and no announcement was made of the engagement of Bolkonsky and Natasha; Prince Andrey insisted upon that. He said that since he was responsible for the delay of their marriage, he ought to bear the whole burden of it. He said that he was bound for ever by his word, but he did not want to bind Natasha and would leave her perfect freedom. If in another six months she were to feel that she did not love him, she would have a perfect right to refuse him. It need hardly be said that neither Natasha nor her parents would hear of this possibility; but Prince Andrey insisted on having his own way. Prince Andrey came every day to the Rostovs', but he did not behave with Natasha as though he were engaged to her; he addressed her formally and kissed only her hand. From the day of his proposal Prince Andrey's relations with Natasha had become quite different from what had existed between them before: their relations were simple and intimate. It seemed as though till then they had not known each other. Both loved to recall how they had regarded one another when they were nothing to each other. Now they both felt utterly different creatures—then affected, now simple and sincere. At first there had been a feeling of awkwardness in the family in regard to Prince Andrey. He seemed a man from another world, and Natasha used for a long while to try and make her people understand Prince Andrey, and declared to every one with pride that he only seemed to be so different, that he was really like every one else, and that she was not afraid of him and no one need be. After a few days, the rest of the family got accustomed to seeing him, and went on without constraint with their usual manner of life, in which he took part. He knew how to talk to the count about the management of his estates, to the countess and Natasha about dress, and to Sonya about her album and embroidery. Sometimes the Rostovs among themselves, and in Prince Andrey's presence, expressed their wonder at the way it had all happened, and at the events that obviously betokened that it was to be: Prince Andrey's coming to Otradnoe, and their coming to Petersburg, and the resemblance between Natasha and Prince Andrey, which the old nurse had remarked on Prince Andrey's first visit, and the meeting in 1805 between Andrey and Nikolay, and many other incidents betokening that it was to be, were observed by the family.

The house was full of that poetic atmosphere of dullness and silence, which always accompanies the presence of an engaged couple. Often as they all sat together every one was silent. Sometimes the others got up and went away, and the engaged pair were still as mute when they were left alone. Rarely they spoke of their future life together. Prince Andrey felt frightened and ashamed to speak of it. Natasha shared the feeling, as she did all his feelings, which she never failed to divine. Once Natasha began questioning him about his son.

Prince Andrey blushed—a thing frequent with him at that time, which Natasha particularly liked to see—and said that his son would not live with them.

“Why not?” said Natasha, taking fright.

“I cannot take him from his grandfather and then…”

“How I should have loved him!” said Natasha, at once divining his thought; “but I know you want to avoid any pretext for our being blamed.”

The old count sometimes came up to Prince Andrey, kissed him and asked his advice about some question relating to Petya's education or Nikolay's position. The old countess sighed as she looked at them. Sonya was afraid every instant of being in their way, and was always trying to find excuses for leaving them alone, even when they had no wish to be alone. When Prince Andrey talked—he described things very well—Natasha listened to him with pride. When she talked, she noticed with joy and dread that he watched her with an intent and scrutinising look. She asked herself in perplexity: “What is it he seeks in me? What is it he is probing for with that look? What if I haven't in me what he is searching for in that look?” Sometimes she fell into the mood of wild gaiety characteristic of her, and then she particularly loved to see and hear how Prince Andrey laughed. He rarely laughed, but when he did laugh he abandoned himself utterly to his mirth, and she always felt herself drawn closer to him by this laughter. Natasha would have been perfectly happy if the thought of the separation before her, coming closer and closer, had not terrified her. He too turned pale and cold at the mere thought of it.

On the day before he was to leave Petersburg, Prince Andrey brought with him Pierre, who had not been at the Rostovs' since the day of the ball. Pierre seemed absent-minded and embarrassed. He talked chiefly to the countess. Natasha was sitting at the chess-board with Sonya, and invited Prince Andrey to join them. He went to them.

“You have known Bezuhov a long while, haven't you?” he asked. “Do you like him?”

“Yes; he's very nice, but very absurd.”

And she began, as people always did when speaking of Pierre, to tell anecdotes of his absent-mindedness, anecdotes which were made up, indeed, about him.

“You know, I have confided our secret to him,” said Prince Andrey. “I have known him from childhood. He has a heart of gold. I beg you, Natalie,” he said, with sudden seriousness, “I am going away; God knows what may happen. You may change … Oh, I know I ought not to speak of that. Only one thing—if anything were to happen to you, while I am away …”

“What could happen?”

“If any trouble were to come,” pursued Prince Andrey. “I beg you, Mademoiselle Sophie, if anything were to happen, to go to him and no one else for advice and help. He is a most absent-minded and eccentric person, but he has the truest heart.”

Neither her father nor her mother, neither Sonya nor Prince Andrey could have foreseen the effect of the parting on Natasha. She wandered about the house all that day, flushed, excited, and tearless, busying herself about the most trivial matters as though she had no notion of what was before her. She did not weep even at the moment when he kissed her hand for the last time.

“Don't go away!” was all she said, in a voice that made him wonder whether he ought not really to remain, and that he remembered long after. When he had gone, she still did not weep; but for several days she sat in her room, not crying, but taking no interest in anything, and only saying from time to time: “Oh, why did he go?” But a fortnight after his departure, she surprised those around her equally by recovering from her state of spiritual sickness, and became herself again, only with a change in her moral physiognomy, such as one sees in the faces of children after a long illness.

没有举行订婚礼，博尔孔斯基和娜塔莎订婚的事亦未向任何人宣布，安德烈公爵坚持这样做。他说推迟结婚是他的过错，因此延期的全部重担都应当落在他身上。他说他永远要用诺言来约束自己，但是他不愿意束缚娜塔莎，给予她以充分自由。如果在半年之后她觉得她不爱他，她有摆脱他的权利，只要拒绝他就行。不言而喻，无论是双亲，还是娜塔莎，都不愿意听见这件事，然而安德烈公爵固执己见。安德烈公爵每天都到罗斯托夫家里去，但他不以未婚夫身份和娜塔莎交际。他称她为“您”，只吻她的手而已。在提婚的那天以后，安德烈公爵和娜塔莎之间建立了和从前截然不同的、亲密的纯朴关系。他们好像直到现在才相互认识似的。无论是他，还是她都喜欢回想他们一无所有的时候彼此对对方的看法，现在他们两个人都觉得自己成为迥然不同的人了，那时是虚情假意，现在是纯朴和诚实。最初，家里人和安德烈公爵交往时都感到尴尬，他好像是个陌生世界里的人物，娜塔莎久而久之才使家里人和安德烈公爵混熟了，她而且很自豪地要大家相信，他只是像个特殊人物，其实他和众人，都是同样的人，她也使众人相信，她并不怕他，谁也不应该怕他。过了几天，家里人和他混熟了，不觉得拘束，他们于是乎在他面前采取原有的生活方式，他也参与他们家里的生活。他擅长与伯爵谈论产业，和伯爵夫人及娜塔莎谈论衣着，与索尼娅谈论纪念册和十字布。有时候，罗斯托夫家里人彼此之间，或者在安德烈公爵面前都对以下情形感到惊奇，这门婚事是怎样谈妥的，这种种征兆怎么会如此明显：安德烈公爵抵达奥特拉德诺耶、他们抵达彼得堡、娜塔莎和安德烈公爵的相貌相似（保姆在安德烈公爵第一次来访时就注意到了）、一八○五年安德烈和尼古拉之间的冲突，还有已被家里人注意到的业已发生的事件的许多别的征兆。

未婚夫妇在场的时候，这里常常充满着富有诗意的苦闷和沉寂的气氛。他们都坐在一起，常常默默无语。有时候大伙儿站了起来走开了，只剩下未婚夫妇二人，他们也默默无言。他们很少谈到自己未来的生活。安德烈公爵谈到这件事时觉得害怕和惭愧。娜塔莎有此同感，她经常猜透安德烈公爵所有的感情。有一回娜塔莎问起他的儿子。安德烈公爵涨红了脸，现在他常常满面通红，这一点娜塔莎特别喜欢，他说，他的儿子是不会住在他们一起的。

“为什么？”娜塔莎吃惊地说。

“我不能从爷爷那儿把他夺走，而且……”

“我多么喜爱他啊！”娜塔莎立刻猜透了他的心思，她说，“但是我知道，您希望避免那种责难您和我的藉口。”

老伯爵有时候走到安德烈公爵跟前，一面吻他，一面就彼佳的教育和尼古拉的职务问题向他求教。老伯爵夫人望着他们时，长吁短叹。索尼娅时时刻刻都害怕成为多馀的人，她竭力寻找走开的藉口，寻找让他们单独留下的藉口，这时候，他们并不需要她这样做。当安德烈公爵说话的时候（他讲话讲得很好），娜塔莎骄傲地听着；当她说话的时候，她又惊又喜地发觉，他以审视的目光端详着她。她困惑不安地问她自己：“他在我身上寻找什么？他借助目光能得到什么？如果我身上没有他藉助目光能够找到的东西，那么会怎样呢？”她有时候陷入她所固有的极度愉快的心境，那么她就特别喜欢倾听并且注视安德烈公爵发笑。他很少发笑，但是当他发笑的时候，他就笑得忘乎所以，在每次发笑之后，她都觉得她自己和他更加亲近了。如果即将临近离别的念头不会使娜塔莎害怕，那么她就是非常幸福的了。

安德烈离开彼得堡的前夜，他把皮埃尔带来了，皮埃尔自从上次舞会以来，一次也没有到过罗斯托夫家里串门。皮埃尔看来惘然若失，感到难为情。他和他们家的母亲交谈。娜塔莎和索尼亚在棋桌旁边坐下来，邀请安德烈公爵下棋。他走到她们跟前。

“您不是老早就认识别祖霍夫吗？”他问道，“您喜欢他吗？”

“是啊，他是个好人，不过太可笑了。”

就像她经常谈论皮埃尔那样，她讲起有关他的漫不经心的趣闻，甚至是一些针对他凭空虚构的趣闻。

“您要知道，我把我们的秘密讲给他听了，”安德烈公爵说道，“我从儿时起就认识他了。他有一副金不换的好心肠。我请求您，娜塔莉，”他忽然严肃地说，“我要走了，天晓得会发生什么事。您可以不再爱我……唔，我知道，我不应该提起这件事。只想说一点，当我不在的时候，您无论发生什么事……”

“会发生什么事呢？……”

“无论有什么悲痛，”安德烈公爵继续说下去，“索菲小姐，我请求您，无论发生什么事情，只要请他一个人指教，请他一个人帮助。他是个非常漫不经心而且可笑的人，不过他有一副金不换的好心肠。”

无论是父亲或者是母亲，无论是索尼娅，或者是安德烈公爵本人都不能预见到娜塔莎和她的未婚夫的离别会对她产生怎样的影响。这天她满脸通红，十分激动，眼中没有噙着泪水，她在房间里走来走去，做着极为琐碎的事情，仿佛不明了，等待她的是什么。当他告别时，最后一次吻吻她的手，她没有哭出声来。

“您不要走吧！”她只是对他说了这句话，那嗓音使他考虑到他是否真要留下来，而且在此以后他长久地记得她说这句话时的嗓音。他走了以后，她也没有哭，一连好几天都未曾啜泣，只是呆呆地在自己房间时。她对什么都不感兴趣，有时候只是这样说：“哦，他干嘛走了！”

但是他走后过了两个礼拜，使她周围的人感到意外的是，她突然从那精神病状态中清醒过来，变得像从前那个模样了，只不过精神面貌发生了变化，如同孩子在久病之后现出另一副面孔从床上站立起来。