"A splendid soldier, splendid! `What am I attached to!` Ha, ha, ha!" laughed Prince Bolkonski, and Anatole laughed still louder. Suddenly Prince Bolkonski frowned.

"`The Brook,`" suggested Nicholas.

"But, my dear princess," answered Anna Mikhaylovna blandly but impressively, blocking the way to the bedroom and preventing the other from passing, "won`t this be too much for poor Uncle at a moment when he needs repose? Worldly conversation at a moment when his soul is already prepared..."