- Marya has a good effect on Nikolai.
- He’s got a temper and beats the serfs who annoy him.
- One day, Marya sees him beating some guy and starts crying. Nikolai feels awful and, from then on, tries to avoid fighting as much as possible.
- His aristocratic neighbors don’t really like him. He’s too concerned with his serfs for their taste.
- Instead of socializing, Nikolai just farms and reads books at night. He’s filling his library with the classics of his day and tries to read through each of them.
- Sonya is still living with them, helping out around the house and with the kids.
- One day, Natasha is talking to Marya about Sonya and basically says that she is the kind of person who was born to be taken for granted. Ouch.