- An hour later, Marya gets word that all the serfs are outside waiting for her to come speak to them.
- She’s all, what? Why are they there?
- Dron says that they came on her orders. Again, she’s like, what orders? I just said to hand the grain out.
- But she decides to go out and speak to them instead of sending them away.
- She feels strong as the voice of her brother and tells them that she’s going to give them all the harvest if only they’ll take their stuff and leave the estate along with her.
- The peasants listen but don’t seem on board.
- They don’t want the grain – actually, they don’t need it – and they don’t want to abandon the estate either.
- One of them says the choice is basically go with Marya and remain a serf, or stick around to join the French and become free. They all prefer freedom, thank you very much.
- Worried, Marya ducks back into the house and orders the horses and carriage to be prepared. Oh, we’re sure that’s going to happen.