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PIERRE drove to Marya Dmitryevna's to report to her the execution of her
commands, as to Kuragin's banishment from Moscow. The whole house was in
excitement and alarm. Natasha was very ill; and as Marya Dmitryevna told him in
secret, she had on the night after she had been told Anatole was married, taken
arsenic, which she had procured by stealth. After swallowing a little, she had
been so frightened that she waked Sonya, and told her what she had done.
Antidotes had been given in time, and now she was out of danger; but she was
still so weak, that they could not dream of moving her to the country, and the
countess had been sent for. Pierre saw the count in great trouble, and Sonya in
tears, but he could not see Natasha.
That day Pierre dined at the club, and heard on every side gossip about the
attempted abduction of the young Countess Rostov, and persistently denied the
story, assuring every one that the only foundation for it was that his
brother-in-law had made the young lady an offer and had been refused. It seemed
to Pierre that it was part of his duty to conceal the whole affair, and to save
the young countess's reputation.
He was looking forward with terror to Prince Andrey's return, and drove round
every day to ask for news of him from the old prince.
Prince Nikolay Andreitch heard all the rumours current in the town through
Mademoiselle Bourienne; and he had read the note to Princess Marya, in which
Natasha had broken off her engagement. He seemed in better spirits than usual,
and looked forward with impatience to seeing his son.
A few days after Anatole's departure, Pierre received a note from Prince
Andrey to inform him that he had arrived, and to beg him to go and see
him.
The first minute of Prince Andrey's arrival in Moscow, he was handed by his
father Natasha's note to Princess Marya, in which she broke off her engagement
(the note had been stolen from Princess Marya, and given to the old prince by
Mademoiselle Bourienne). He heard from his father's lips the story of Natasha's
elopement, with additions.
Prince Andrey had arrived in the evening; Pierre came to see him the
following morning. Pierre had expected to find Prince Andrey almost in the same
state as Natasha, and he was therefore surprised when as he entered the
drawing-room he heard the sound of Prince Andrey's voice in the study, loudly
and eagerly discussing some Petersburg intrigue. The old prince and some other
voice interrupted him from time to time. Princess Marya came out to meet Pierre.
She sighed, turning her eyes towards the door of the room, where Prince Andrey
was, plainly intending to express her sympathy with his sorrow; but Pierre saw
by Princess Marya's face that she was glad both at what had happened and at the
way her brother had taken the news of his fiancée's treachery.
“He said he had expected it,” she said. “I know his pride will not allow him
to express his feelings; but anyway, he has borne it better, far better, than I
had expected. It seems it was to be so …”
“But is it all really at an end?” said Pierre.
Princess Marya looked at him with surprise. She could not understand how one
could ask such a question. Pierre went into the study. Prince Andrey was very
much changed, and visibly much more robust, but there was a new horizontal line
between his brows. He was in civilian dress, and standing facing his father and
Prince Meshtchersky, he was hotly arguing, making vigorous gesticulations.
The subject was Speransky, of whose sudden dismissal and supposed treason
news had just reached Moscow.
“Now he” (Speransky) “will be criticised and condemned by all who were
enthusiastic about him a month ago,” Prince Andrey was saying, “and were
incapable of understanding his aims. It's very easy to condemn a man when he's
out of favour, and to throw upon him the blame of all the mistakes of other
people. But I maintain that if anything of value has been done in the present
reign, it has been done by him—by him alone …” He stopped, seeing Pierre. His
face quivered, and at once assumed a vindictive expression. “And posterity will
do him justice,” he finished, and at once turned to Pierre. “Well, how are you,
still getting stouter?” he said eagerly, but the new line was still more deeply
furrowed on his forehead. “Yes, I'm very well,” he answered to Pierre's
question, and he smiled. It was clear to Pierre that his smile meant, “I am
well, but my health is of no use to any one now.”
After saying a few words to Pierre of the awful road from the frontiers of
Poland, of people he had met in Switzerland who knew Pierre, and of M. Dessalle,
whom he had brought back from Switzerland as a tutor for his son, Prince Andrey
warmly took part again in the conversation about Speransky, which had been kept
up between the two old gentlemen.
“If there had been treason, and there were proofs of his secret relations
with Napoleon, they would have made them public,” he said, with heat and haste.
“I don't and I didn't like Speransky personally, but I do like justice.”
Pierre recognized now in his friend that desire he knew only too well, for
excitement and discussion of something apart from himself, simply in order to
stifle thoughts that were too painful and too near his heart.
When Prince Meshtchersky had gone, Prince Andrey took Pierre's arm, and asked
him to come to the room that had been assigned him. In that room there was a
folding bedstead and open trunks and boxes. Prince Andrey went up to one of them
and took out a case. Out of the case he took a packet of letters. He did all
this in silence, and very rapidly. He stood up again and cleared his throat. His
face was frowning, and his lips set.
“Forgive me, if I'm troubling you …” Pierre saw that Prince Andrey was going
to speak of Natasha, and his broad face showed sympathy and pity. That
expression in Pierre's face exasperated Prince Andrey. He went on resolutely,
clearly, and disagreeably: “I have received a refusal from Countess Rostov, and
rumours have reached me of your brother-in-law's seeking her hand, or something
of the kind. Is that true?”
“Both true and untrue,” began Pierre; but Prince Andrey cut him short.
“Here are her letters and her portrait,” he said. He took the packet from the
table and gave it to Pierre.
“Give that to the countess … if you will see her.”
“She is very ill,” said Pierre.
“So she's still here?” said Prince Andrey. “And Prince Kuragin?” he asked
quickly.
“He has been gone a long while. She has been at death's door.”
“I am very sorry to hear of her illness,” said Prince Andrey. He laughed a
cold, malignant, unpleasant laugh like his father's.
“But M. Kuragin, then, did not deign to bestow his hand on Countess Rostov?”
said Prince Andrey. He snorted several times.
“He could not have married her, because he is married,” said Pierre.
Prince Andrey laughed unpleasantly, again recalling his father.
“And where is he now, your brother-in-law, may I ask?” he said.
“He went to Peter … but, really, I don't know,” said Pierre.
“Well, that's no matter,” said Prince Andrey. “Tell Countess Rostov from me
that she was and is perfectly free, and that I wish her all prosperity.”
Pierre took the packet. Prince Andrey, as though reflecting whether he had
not something more to say, or waiting for Pierre to say something, looked at him
with a fixed gaze.
“Listen. Do you remember our discussion in Petersburg?” said Pierre. “Do you
remember about—?”
“I remember,” Prince Andrey answered hurriedly. “I said that a fallen woman
should be forgiven, but I did not say I could forgive one. I can't.”
“How can you compare it? …” said Pierre.
Prince Andrey cut him short. He cried harshly: “Yes, ask her hand again, be
magnanimous, and all that sort of thing? … Oh, that's all very noble, but I'm
not equal to following in that gentleman's tracks. If you care to remain my
friend, never speak to me of that … of all this business. Well, good-bye. So
you'll give that? …”
Pierre left him, and went in to the old prince and Princess Marya.
The old man seemed livelier than usual. Princess Marya was the same as usual,
but behind her sympathy for her brother, Pierre detected her relief that her
brother's marriage was broken off. Looking at them, Pierre felt what a contempt
and dislike they all had for the Rostovs; felt that it would be impossible in
their presence even to mention the name of the girl who could give up Prince
Andrey for any one in the world.
At dinner they talked of the coming war, of which there could now be no doubt
in the near future. Prince Andrey talked incessantly, and argued first with his
father, and then with Dessalle, the Swiss tutor. He seemed more eager than
usual, with that eagerness of which Pierre knew so well the inner cause.
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