Marya Bolkosky

Princess (Countess) Marya Nikolenya Bolkonsky (born 1789) is a character in War and Peace. Early during the book, she resigns herself religiously to stay unmarried to be with her dominating father, Prince Nikolay Adreitch Bolkosky, who dies unexpectedly during the days leading to the battle of Borodino. After the Prince's death, and with her peasants threatening to become violent, Count Nikolay Rostov rescues her. They fall in love, but several situations keep them apart until they both forgo any hope of marriage. Her brother, Prince Andrey Bolkonsky, is seriously wounded in battle and chances to fall under the care of Natasha Rostov, with whom Princess Marya becomes close friends. Andrey Bolkonsky's death brings Marya and Natasha closer together. She marries the impoverished Count Nikolay Rostov in the autumn of 1814, with whom she has four children. Nikolay Rostov relies on his work and her moral support, not financial, to become a wealthy and content estate owner.