Page 989 - war-and-peace

thought gazing at her sparkling eyes, and under the mus-
tache a happy rapturous smile dimpled her cheeks, a smile
he had never seen before.
‘I’m not afraid of anything,’ said Sonya. ‘May I go at
once?’ She got up.
They told her where the barn was and how she should
stand and listen, and they handed her a fur cloak. She threw
this over her head and shoulders and glanced at Nicholas.
‘What a darling that girl is!’ thought he. ‘And what have
I been thinking of till now?’
Sonya went out into the passage to go to the barn. Nicho-
las went hastily to the front porch, saying he felt too hot. The
crowd of people really had made the house stuffy.
Outside, there was the same cold stillness and the same
moon, but even brighter than before. The light was so strong
and the snow sparkled with so many stars that one did not
wish to look up at the sky and the real stars were unnoticed.
The sky was black and dreary, while the earth was gay.
‘I am a fool, a fool! what have I been waiting for?’ thought
Nicholas. and running out from the porch he went round
the corner of the house and along the path that led to the
back porch. He knew Sonya would pass that way. Halfway
lay some snow-covered piles of firewood and across and
along them a network of shadows from the bare old lime
trees fell on the snow and on the path. This path led to the
barn. The log walls of the barn and its snow-covered roof,
that looked as if hewn out of some precious stone, sparkled
in the moonlight. A tree in the garden snapped with the
frost, and then all was again perfectly silent. His bosom

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