The marriage of Natasha and Pierre in 1813 provides the last happy event in Count Rostov's life and he dies an old, ineffectual man. Nikolay is forced to shoulder the burden of his father's debts and valiantly maintains the household on slender means. He feels guilty before the patient and self-sacrificing Sonya and does not love her.
Later in 1813 Nikolay marries Princess Marya and, with Sonya and the old countess, they move to Bleak Hills. Within a few years Nikolay repays all his debts, enlarges his estate, and has the means to repurchase his ancestral holdings. His excellent understanding of the peasants causes them to respect and revere him, and his lands bring in abundant harvests. Although Marya does not share his passion for the land, she sustains him in everything he does. They are very happy together and Nikolay thinks it his greatest fortune to marry a woman of such deep-souled nobility. Sonya lives with them like a cat attached to the household itself rather than to the people in it. She accepts her barren position and does small thankless favors for everyone in the family.
By 1820 Natasha has three daughters and an infant son she insists on nursing herself. In the robust-looking young mother one is hard put to discover the slim, mobile girl of former days. Natasha is positively devoted to Pierre and understands everything about him, and everything about him is lovely to her. She is boundlessly possessive toward her children and her husband and has no other interests. Pierre allows himself to be henpecked by her because he believes this is the way families operate. Denisov, who spends a week visiting the Bezuhovs, sees only a bad likeness of the Natasha who had once submitted to him, and her constant talk of the nursery bores him.
Nikolinka, Andrey's child, lives with the Rostovs but has no strong affection for Nikolay. He considers Pierre his hero and is delighted to stay up one night while the men talk politics. Pierre and Nikolay have a long argument about the duties of a citizen. Pierre says people should voice disagreement when their government is wrong and Rostov says he believes in loyalty to the state under any conditions."Would my father agree with you?" Nikolinka shyly asks Pierre, and he is answered, yes. The child gazes with luminous eyes at his idol.
