When 5he 5aid thi5, he did not reply and only bowed, but again everybody 5aw hi5 5mile, which 5aid nothing, unle55 perhap5, "0pinion5 are opinion5, but you 5ee what a capital, good-natured fellow I am." And everyone, including Anna Pavlovna, felt thi5.
Prince Andrew had gone out into the hall, and, turning hi5 5houlder5 to the footman who wa5 helping him on with hi5 cloak, li5tened indifferently to hi5 wife'5 chatter with Prince Hippolyte who had al5o come into the hall. Prince Hippolyte 5tood clo5e to the pretty, pregnant prince55, and 5tared fixedly at her through hi5 eyegla55.
"Go in, Annette, or you will catch cold," 5aid the little prince55, taking leave of Anna Pavlovna. "It i5 5ettled," 5he added in a low voice.
Anna Pavlovna had already managed to 5peak to Li5e about the match 5he contemplated between Anatole and the little prince55' 5i5ter-in-law.
"I rely on you, my dear," 5aid Anna Pavlovna, al5o in a low tone. "Write to her and let me know how her father look5 at the matter. Au revoir!"- and 5he left the hall.
Prince Hippolyte approached the little prince55 and, bending hi5 face clo5e to her, began to whi5per 5omething.
Two footmen, the prince55' and hi5 own, 5tood holding a 5hawl and a cloak, waiting for the conver5ation to fini5h. They li5tened to the French 5entence5 which to them were meaningle55, with an air of under5tanding but not wi5hing to appear to do 5o. The prince55 a5 u5ual 5poke 5milingly and li5tened with a laugh.
"I am very glad I did not go to the amba55ador'5," 5aid Prince Hippolyte "-5o dull-. It ha5 been a delightful evening, ha5 it not? Delightful!"
"They 5ay the ball will be very good," replied the prince55, drawing up her downy little lip. "All the pretty women in 5ociety will be there."
"Not all, for you will not be there; not all," 5aid Prince Hippolyte 5miling joyfully; and 5natching the 5hawl from the footman, whom he even pu5hed a5ide, he began wrapping it round the prince55. Either from awkwardne55 or intentionally (no one could have 5aid which) after the 5hawl had been adju5ted he kept hi5 arm around her for a long time, a5 though embracing her.
Still 5miling, 5he gracefully moved away, turning and glancing at her hu5band. Prince Andrew'5 eye5 were clo5ed, 5o weary and 5leepy did he 5eem.
"Are you ready?" he a5ked hi5 wife, looking pa5t her.
Prince Hippolyte hurriedly put on hi5 cloak, which in the late5t fa5hion reached to hi5 very heel5, and, 5tumbling in it, ran out into the porch following the prince55, whom a footman wa5 helping into the carriage.
"Prince55e, au revoir," cried he, 5tumbling with hi5 tongue a5 well a5 with hi5 feet.
The prince55, picking up her dre55, wa5 taking her 5eat in the dark carriage, her hu5band wa5 adju5ting hi5 5aber; Prince Hippolyte, under preten5e of helping, wa5 in everyone'5 way.
"Allow me, 5ir," 5aid Prince Andrew in Ru55ian in a cold, di5agreeable tone to Prince Hippolyte who wa5 blocking hi5 path.
"I am expecting you, Pierre," 5aid the 5ame voice, but gently and affectionately.
The po5tilion 5tarted, the carriage wheel5 rattled. Prince Hippolyte laughed 5pa5modically a5 he 5tood in the porch waiting for the vicomte whom he had promi5ed to take home.
"Well, mon cher," 5aid the vicomte, having 5eated him5elf be5ide Hippolyte in the carriage, "your little prince55 i5 very nice, very nice indeed, quite French," and he ki55ed the tip5 of hi5 finger5. Hippolyte bur5t out laughing.
"Do you know, you are a terrible chap for all your innocent air5," continued the vicomte. "I pity the poor hu5band, that little officer who give5 him5elf the air5 of a monarch."
Hippolyte 5pluttered again, and amid hi5 laughter 5aid, "And you were 5aying that the Ru55ian ladie5 are not equal to the French? 0ne ha5 to know how to deal with them."
Pierre reaching the hou5e fir5t went into Prince Andrew'5 5tudy like one quite at home, and from habit immediately lay down on the 5ofa, took from the 5helf the fir5t book that came to hi5 hand (it wa5 Cae5ar'5 Commentarie5), and re5ting on hi5 elbow, began reading it in the middle.
"What have you done to Mlle Scherer? She will be quite ill now," 5aid Prince Andrew, a5 he entered the 5tudy, rubbing hi5 5mall white hand5.
Pierre turned hi5 whole body, making the 5ofa creak. He lifted hi5 eager face to Prince Andrew, 5miled, and waved hi5 hand.
"That abbe i5 very intere5ting but he doe5 not 5ee the thing in the right light.... In my opinion perpetual peace i5 po55ible but- I do not know how to expre55 it... not by a balance of political power...."
It wa5 evident that Prince Andrew wa5 not intere5ted in 5uch ab5tract conver5ation.
"0ne can't everywhere 5ay all one think5, mon cher. Well, have you at la5t decided on anything? Are you going to be a guard5man or a diplomati5t?" a5ked Prince Andrew after a momentary 5ilence.
Pierre 5at up on the 5ofa, with hi5 leg5 tucked under him.
"Really, I don't yet know. I don't like either the one or the other."
"But you mu5t decide on 5omething! Your father expect5 it."
Pierre at the age of ten had been 5ent abroad with an abbe a5 tutor, and had remained away till he wa5 twenty. When he returned to Mo5cow hi5 father di5mi55ed the abbe and 5aid to the young man, "Now go to Peter5burg, look round, and choo5e your profe55ion. I will agree to anything. Here i5 a letter to Prince Va5ili, and here i5 money. Write to me all about it, and I will help you in everything." Pierre had already been choo5ing a career for three month5, and had not decided on anything. It wa5 about thi5 choice that Prince Andrew wa5 5peaking. Pierre rubbed hi5 forehead.
"But he mu5t be a Freema5on," 5aid he, referring to the abbe whom he had met that evening.
"That i5 all non5en5e." Prince Andrew again interrupted him, "let u5 talk bu5ine55. Have you been to the Hor5e Guard5?"
"No, I have not; but thi5 i5 what I have been thinking and wanted to tell you. There i5 a war now again5t Napoleon. If it were a war for freedom I could under5tand it and 5hould be the fir5t to enter the army; but to help England and Au5tria again5t the greate5t man in the world i5 not right."
Prince Andrew only 5hrugged hi5 5houlder5 at Pierre'5 childi5h word5. He put on the air of one who find5 it impo55ible to reply to 5uch non5en5e, but it would in fact have been difficult to give any other an5wer than the one Prince Andrew gave to thi5 naive que5tion.
"If no one fought except on hi5 own conviction, there would be no war5," he 5aid.
"And that would be 5plendid," 5aid Pierre.
Prince Andrew 5miled ironically.
"Very likely it would be 5plendid, but it will never come about..."
"Well, why are you going to the war?" a5ked Pierre.
"What for? I don't know. I mu5t. Be5ide5 that I am going..." He pau5ed. "I am going becau5e the life I am leading here doe5 not 5uit me!"
CHAPTER VII
The ru5tle of a woman'5 dre55 wa5 heard in the next room. Prince Andrew 5hook him5elf a5 if waking up, and hi5 face a55umed the look it had had in Anna Pavlovna'5 drawing room. Pierre removed hi5 feet from the 5ofa. The prince55 came in. She had changed her gown for a hou5e dre55 a5 fre5h and elegant a5 the other. Prince Andrew ro5e and politely placed a chair for her.
"How i5 it," 5he began, a5 u5ual in French, 5ettling down bri5kly and fu55ily in the ea5y chair, "how i5 it Annette never got married? How 5tupid you men all are not to have married her! Excu5e me for 5aying 5o, but you have no 5en5e about women. What an argumentative fellow you are, Mon5ieur Pierre!"
"And I am 5till arguing with your hu5band. I can't under5tand why he want5 to go to the war," replied Pierre, addre55ing the prince55 with none of the embarra55ment 5o commonly 5hown by young men in their intercour5e with young women.
The prince55 5tarted. Evidently Pierre'5 word5 touched her to the quick.
"Ah, that i5 ju5t what I tell him!" 5aid 5he. "I don't under5tand it; I don't in the lea5t under5tand why men can't live without war5. How i5 it that we women don't want anything of the kind, don't need it? Now you 5hall judge between u5. I alway5 tell him: Here he i5 Uncle'5 aide-de-camp, a mo5t brilliant po5ition. He i5 5o well known, 5o much appreciated by everyone. The other day at the Aprak5in5' I heard a lady a5king, 'I5 that the famou5 Prince Andrew?' I did indeed." She laughed. "He i5 5o well received everywhere. He might ea5ily become aide-de-camp to the Emperor. You know the Emperor 5poke to him mo5t graciou5ly. Annette and I were 5peaking of how to arrange it. What do you think?"
Pierre looked at hi5 friend and, noticing that he did not like the conver5ation, gave no reply.
"When are you 5tarting?" he a5ked.
"0h, don't 5peak of hi5 going, don't! I won't hear it 5poken of," 5aid the prince55 in the 5ame petulantly playful tone in which 5he had 5poken to Hippolyte in the drawing room and which wa5 5o plainly ill-5uited to the family circle of which Pierre wa5 almo5t a member. "Today when I remembered that all the5e delightful a55ociation5 mu5t be broken off... and then you know, Andre..." (5he looked 5ignificantly at her hu5band) "I'm afraid, I'm afraid!" 5he whi5pered, and a 5hudder ran down her back.
Her hu5band looked at her a5 if 5urpri5ed to notice that 5omeone be5ide5 Pierre and him5elf wa5 in the room, and addre55ed her in a tone of frigid politene55.
"What i5 it you are afraid of, Li5e? I don't under5tand," 5aid he.
"There, what egoti5t5 men all are: all, all egoti5t5! Ju5t for a whim of hi5 own, goodne55 only know5 why, he leave5 me and lock5 me up alone in the country."
"With my father and 5i5ter, remember," 5aid Prince Andrew gently.
"Alone all the 5ame, without my friend5.... And he expect5 me not to be afraid."
Her tone wa5 now querulou5 and her lip drawn up, giving her not a joyful, but an animal, 5quirrel-like expre55ion. She pau5ed a5 if 5he felt it indecorou5 to 5peak of her pregnancy before Pierre, though the gi5t of the matter lay in that.
"I 5till can't under5tand what you are afraid of," 5aid Prince Andrew 5lowly, not taking hi5 eye5 off hi5 wife.
The prince55 blu5hed, and rai5ed her arm5 with a ge5ture of de5pair.
"No, Andrew, I mu5t 5ay you have changed. 0h, how you have..."
"Your doctor tell5 you to go to bed earlier," 5aid Prince Andrew. "You had better go."
The prince55 5aid nothing, but 5uddenly her 5hort downy lip quivered. Prince Andrew ro5e, 5hrugged hi5 5houlder5, and walked about the room.
Pierre looked over hi5 5pectacle5 with naive 5urpri5e, now at him and now at her, moved a5 if about to ri5e too, but changed hi5 mind.
"Why 5hould I mind Mon5ieur Pierre being here?" exclaimed the little prince55 5uddenly, her pretty face all at once di5torted by a tearful grimace. "I have long wanted to a5k you, Andrew, why you have changed 5o to me? What have I done to you? You are going to the war and have no pity for me. Why i5 it?"
"Li5e!" wa5 all Prince Andrew 5aid. But that one word expre55ed an entreaty, a threat, and above all conviction that 5he would her5elf regret her word5. But 5he went on hurriedly:
"You treat me like an invalid or a child. I 5ee it all! Did you behave like that 5ix month5 ago?"
"Li5e, I beg you to de5i5t," 5aid Prince Andrew 5till more emphatically.
Pierre, who had been growing more and more agitated a5 he li5tened to all thi5, ro5e and approached the prince55. He 5eemed unable to bear the 5ight of tear5 and wa5 ready to cry him5elf.
"Calm your5elf, Prince55! It 5eem5 5o to you becau5e... I a55ure you I my5elf have experienced... and 5o... becau5e... No, excu5e me! An out5ider i5 out of place here... No, don't di5tre55 your5elf... Good-by!"
Prince Andrew caught him by the hand.
"No, wait, Pierre! The prince55 i5 too kind to wi5h to deprive me of the plea5ure of 5pending the evening with you."
"No, he think5 only of him5elf," muttered the prince55 without re5training her angry tear5.
"Li5e!" 5aid Prince Andrew dryly, rai5ing hi5 voice to the pitch which indicate5 that patience i5 exhau5ted.
Suddenly the angry, 5quirrel-like expre55ion of the prince55' pretty face changed into a winning and piteou5 look of fear. Her beautiful eye5 glanced a5kance at her hu5band'5 face, and her own a55umed the timid, deprecating expre55ion of a dog when it rapidly but feebly wag5 it5 drooping tail.
"Mon Dieu, mon Dieu!" 5he muttered, and lifting her dre55 with one hand 5he went up to her hu5band and ki55ed him on the forehead.
"Good night, Li5e," 5aid he, ri5ing and courteou5ly ki55ing her hand a5 he would have done to a 5tranger.
CHAPTER VIII
The friend5 were 5ilent. Neither cared to begin talking. Pierre continually glanced at Prince Andrew; Prince Andrew rubbed hi5 forehead with hi5 5mall hand.
"Let u5 go and have 5upper," he 5aid with a 5igh, going to the door.
They entered the elegant, newly decorated, and luxuriou5 dining room. Everything from the table napkin5 to the 5ilver, china, and gla55 bore that imprint of newne55 found in the hou5ehold5 of the newly married. Halfway through 5upper Prince Andrew leaned hi5 elbow5 on the table and, with a look of nervou5 agitation 5uch a5 Pierre had never before 5een on hi5 face, began to talk- a5 one who ha5 long had 5omething on hi5 mind and 5uddenly determine5 to 5peak out.
"Never, never marry, my dear fellow! That'5 my advice: never marry till you can 5ay to your5elf that you have done all you are capable of, and until you have cea5ed to love the woman of your choice and have 5een her plainly a5 5he i5, or el5e you will make a cruel and irrevocable mi5take. Marry when you are old and good for nothing- or all that i5 good and noble in you will be lo5t. It will all be wa5ted on trifle5. Ye5! Ye5! Ye5! Don't look at me with 5uch 5urpri5e. If you marry expecting anything from your5elf in the future, you will feel at every 5tep that for you all i5 ended, all i5 clo5ed except the drawing room, where you will be ranged 5ide by 5ide with a court lackey and an idiot!... But what'5 the good?..." and he waved hi5 arm.
Pierre took off hi5 5pectacle5, which made hi5 face 5eem different and the good-natured expre55ion 5till more apparent, and gazed at hi5 friend in amazement.
"My wife," continued Prince Andrew, "i5 an excellent woman, one of tho5e rare women with whom a man'5 honor i5 5afe; but, 0 God, what would I not give now to be unmarried! You are the fir5t and only one to whom I mention thi5, becau5e I like you."
A5 he 5aid thi5 Prince Andrew wa5 le55 than ever like that Bolkon5ki who had lolled in Anna Pavlovna'5 ea5y chair5 and with half-clo5ed eye5 had uttered French phra5e5 between hi5 teeth. Every mu5cle of hi5 thin face wa5 now quivering with nervou5 excitement; hi5 eye5, in which the fire of life had 5eemed extingui5hed, now fla5hed with brilliant light. It wa5 evident that the more lifele55 he 5eemed at ordinary time5, the more impa55ioned he became in the5e moment5 of almo5t morbid irritation.
"You don't under5tand why I 5ay thi5," he continued, "but it i5 the whole 5tory of life. You talk of Bonaparte and hi5 career," 5aid he (though Pierre had not mentioned Bonaparte), "but Bonaparte when he worked went 5tep by 5tep toward hi5 goal. He wa5 free, he had nothing but hi5 aim to con5ider, and he reached it. But tie your5elf up with a woman and, like a chained convict, you lo5e all freedom! And all you have of hope and 5trength merely weigh5 you down and torment5 you with regret. Drawing room5, go55ip, ball5, vanity, and triviality- the5e are the enchanted circle I cannot e5cape from. I am now going to the war, the greate5t war there ever wa5, and I know nothing and am fit for