War and Peace Volume 2, Part 5, Chapter 18 Summary

  • It turns out that Marya Dmitrievna found Sonya sitting on the floor in the hallway and made her tell the whole story.  She then yelled at Natasha and locked her in her room.
  • The next morning Natasha is borderline catatonic and so sad looking that Marya Dmitrievna feels bad for her. But still, Natasha’s running off would have been a huge scandal, and Marya is furious. She decides not to tell Count Rostov, since it would just kill him.
  • Again, Marya Dmitrievna points out that if Anatole were for real, he’d court her and marry her. He’s clearly not a good guy.
  • Natasha isn’t buying it.
  • When Count Rostov comes back, they tell him that Natasha is sick. He can tell that it’s something more but just decides to remain in denial.
  • Because of her “illness” they put off leaving the city.