Book Nine: 1812 - Chapter XXIII

by Leo Tolstoy

　　At that moment Count Rostopchin with his protruding chin and alerteyes, wearing the uniform of a general with sash over his shoulder,entered the room, stepping briskly to the front of the crowd ofgentry.

　　"Our sovereign the Emperor will be here in a moment," saidRostopchin. "I am straight from the palace. Seeing the position we arein, I think there is little need for discussion. The Emperor hasdeigned to summon us and the merchants. Millions will pour forthfrom there"- he pointed to the merchants' hall- "but our business isto supply men and not spare ourselves... That is the least we can do!"

　　A conference took place confined to the magnates sitting at thetable. The whole consultation passed more than quietly. After allthe preceding noise the sound of their old voices saying one afteranother, "I agree," or for variety, "I too am of that opinion," and soon had even a mournful effect.

　　The secretary was told to write down the resolution of the Moscownobility and gentry, that they would furnish ten men, fullyequipped, out of every thousand serfs, as the Smolensk gentry haddone. Their chairs made a scraping noise as the gentlemen who hadconferred rose with apparent relief, and began walking up and down,arm in arm, to stretch their legs and converse in couples.

　　"The Emperor! The Emperor!" a sudden cry resounded through the hallsand the whole throng hurried to the entrance.

　　The Emperor entered the hall through a broad path between twolines of nobles. Every face expressed respectful, awe-struckcuriosity. Pierre stood rather far off and could not hear all that theEmperor said. From what he did hear he understood that the Emperorspoke of the danger threatening the empire and of the hopes heplaced on the Moscow nobility. He was answered by a voice whichinformed him of the resolution just arrived at.

　　"Gentlemen!" said the Emperor with a quivering voice.

　　There was a rustling among the crowd and it again subsided, sothat Pierre distinctly heard the pleasantly human voice of the Emperorsaying with emotion:

　　"I never doubted the devotion of the Russian nobles, but today ithas surpassed my expectations. I thank you in the name of theFatherland! Gentlemen, let us act! Time is most precious..."

　　The Emperor ceased speaking, the crowd began pressing round him, andrapturous exclamations were heard from all sides.

　　"Yes, most precious... a royal word," said Count Rostov, with a sob.He stood at the back, and, though he had heard hardly anything,understood everything in his own way.

　　From the hall of the nobility the Emperor went to that of themerchants. There he remained about ten minutes. Pierre was among thosewho saw him come out from the merchants' hall with tears of emotion inhis eyes. As became known later, he had scarcely begun to addressthe merchants before tears gushed from his eyes and he concluded ina trembling voice. When Pierre saw the Emperor he was coming outaccompanied by two merchants, one of whom Pierre knew, a fatotkupshchik. The other was the mayor, a man with a thin sallow faceand narrow beard. Both were weeping. Tears filled the thin man's eyes,and the fat otkupshchik sobbed outright like a child and keptrepeating:

　　"Our lives and property- take them, Your Majesty!"

　　Pierre's one feeling at the moment was a desire to show that hewas ready to go all lengths and was prepared to sacrificeeverything. He now felt ashamed of his speech with itsconstitutional tendency and sought an opportunity of effacing it.Having heard that Count Mamonov was furnishing a regiment, Bezukhov atonce informed Rostopchin that he would give a thousand men and theirmaintenance.

　　Old Rostov could not tell his wife of what had passed without tears,and at once consented to Petya's request and went himself to enter hisname.

　　Next day the Emperor left Moscow. The assembled nobles all tookoff their uniforms and settled down again in their homes and clubs,and not without some groans gave orders to their stewards about theenrollment, feeling amazed themselves at what they had done.