War and Peace, Chapter 17 summary

What happens

1. Upset by Anna Mikháylovna’s poverty, Countess Rostóva snaps at her maid and summons her husband.
2. The countess requests five hundred rubles, and the count orders Dmítri to bring seven hundred in clean notes.
3. The count praises Dmítri for avoiding refusals, jokes about his wife’s spending, and returns to his study.
4. Anna Mikháylovna returns and reports that Count Bezúkhov is gravely ill.
5. The countess offers money for Borís’s uniform, and the childhood friends embrace and weep together.

What to notice

The offer gives her concern a practical form. It prompts an embrace and shared tears that join kindness with sorrow about money and age.

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