- It turns out Anna Pavlovna is right – the next day the letter from Kutuzov arrives declaring a big victory over the French in Borodino. Everyone is overjoyed.
- Prince Vassily is all, see I told you Kutuzov is the man.
- Later that day, though, a different piece of news arrives: Helene has died! The official story is that she had some kind of heart malady, but in private people tell the more likely story: she was pregnant and using the new doctor to induce a miscarriage. When Pierre didn’t respond to her letter and she realized there was no divorce coming, she overdosed on the meds the doctor was giving her and killed herself.
- Three days later, news comes that Moscow is going to be abandoned, and Prince Vassily changes his tune again about Kutuzov.