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"It is done!" she said to the count, pointing triumphantly to the

countess, who sat holding in one hand the snuffbox with its

portrait and in the other the letter, and pressing them

alternately to her lips.

When she saw the count, she stretched out her arms to him,

embraced his bald head, over which she again looked at the letter

and the portrait, and in order to press them again to her lips,

she slightly pushed away the bald head. Vera, Natasha, Sonya, and

Petya now entered the room, and the reading of the letter began.

After a brief description of the campaign and the two battles in

which he had taken part, and his promotion, Nicholas said that he

kissed his father's and mother's hands asking for their blessing,

and that he kissed Vera, Natasha, and Petya.