Part 7, Chapters 1-6 Summary

Nikolai Rostov has become a "bluff, good-natured fellow, who would have been thought rather bad form by his old acquaintances in Moscow, though he was loved and respected by his comrades, his subordinates, and his superior officers, and was well content with his life." He feels badly about his family's financial situation and his parents ask him to come home to help. He decides to go home after receiving a pleading letter from his mother. Sonya is nearly twenty now, but she's still in love with him. Nikolai finds Natasha changed, composed, a real princess. Nikolai seeks out an activity at home that is most like what he could be experiencing if he were still with the military. The rough, outdoorsy life suits him best.

Nikolai sets out to look at the family finances, but the pages of numbers...