Book One: 1805 - Chapter XXVI

by Leo Tolstoy

　　The gray-haired valet was sitting drowsily listening to thesnoring of the prince, who was in his large study. From the far sideof the house through the closed doors came the sound of difficultpassages- twenty times repeated- of a sonata by Dussek.

　　Just then a closed carriage and another with a hood drove up tothe porch. Prince Andrew got out of the carriage, helped his littlewife to alight, and let her pass into the house before him. OldTikhon, wearing a wig, put his head out of the door of theantechamber, reported in a whisper that the prince was sleeping, andhastily closed the door. Tikhon knew that neither the son's arrivalnor any other unusual event must be allowed to disturb the appointedorder of the day. Prince Andrew apparently knew this as well asTikhon; he looked at his watch as if to ascertain whether his father'shabits had changed since he was at home last, and, having assuredhimself that they had not, he turned to his wife.

　　"He will get up in twenty minutes. Let us go across to Mary's room,"he said.

　　The little princess had grown stouter during this time, but her eyesand her short, downy, smiling lip lifted when she began to speakjust as merrily and prettily as ever.

　　"Why, this is a palace!" she said to her husband, looking aroundwith the expression with which people compliment their host at a ball."Let's come, quick, quick!" And with a glance round, she smiled atTikhon, at her husband, and at the footman who accompanied them.

　　"Is that Mary practicing? Let's go quietly and take her bysurprise."

　　Prince Andrew followed her with a courteous but sad expression.

　　"You've grown older, Tikhon," he said in passing to the old man, whokissed his hand.

　　Before they reached the room from which the sounds of the clavichordcame, the pretty, fair haired Frenchwoman, Mademoiselle Bourienne,rushed out apparently beside herself with delight.

　　"Ah! what joy for the princess!" exclaimed she: "At last! I must lether know."

　　"No, no, please not... You are Mademoiselle Bourienne," said thelittle princess, kissing her. "I know you already through mysister-in-law's friendship for you. She was not expecting us?"

　　They went up to the door of the sitting room from which came thesound of the oft-repeated passage of the sonata. Prince Andrew stoppedand made a grimace, as if expecting something unpleasant.

　　The little princess entered the room. The passage broke off in themiddle, a cry was heard, then Princess Mary's heavy tread and thesound of kissing. When Prince Andrew went in the two princesses, whohad only met once before for a short time at his wedding, were in eachother's arms warmly pressing their lips to whatever place theyhappened to touch. Mademoiselle Bourienne stood near them pressing herhand to her heart, with a beatific smile and obviously equally readyto cry or to laugh. Prince Andrew shrugged his shoulders andfrowned, as lovers of music do when they hear a false note. The twowomen let go of one another, and then, as if afraid of being too late,seized each other's hands, kissing them and pulling them away, andagain began kissing each other on the face, and then to PrinceAndrew's surprise both began to cry and kissed again. MademoiselleBourienne also began to cry. Prince Andrew evidently felt ill at ease,but to the two women it seemed quite natural that they should cry, andapparently it never entered their heads that it could have beenotherwise at this meeting.

　　"Ah! my dear!... Ah! Mary!" they suddenly exclaimed, and thenlaughed. "I dreamed last night..."- "You were not expecting us?..."-"Ah! Mary, you have got thinner?..." "And you have grown stouter!..."

　　"I knew the princess at once," put in Mademoiselle Bourienne.

　　"And I had no idea!..." exclaimed Princess Mary. "Ah, Andrew, Idid not see you."

　　Prince Andrew and his sister, hand in hand, kissed one another,and he told her she was still the same crybaby as ever. PrincessMary had turned toward her brother, and through her tears theloving, warm, gentle look of her large luminous eyes, very beautifulat that moment, rested on Prince Andrew's face.

　　The little princess talked incessantly, her short, downy upper lipcontinually and rapidly touching her rosy nether lip when necessaryand drawing up again next moment when her face broke into a smile ofglittering teeth and sparkling eyes. She told of an accident theyhad had on the Spasski Hill which might have been serious for her inher condition, and immediately after that informed them that she hadleft all her clothes in Petersburg and that heaven knew what she wouldhave to dress in here; and that Andrew had quite changed, and thatKitty Odyntsova had married an old man, and that there was a suitorfor Mary, a real one, but that they would talk of that later. PrincessMary was still looking silently at her brother and her beautifuleyes were full of love and sadness. It was plain that she wasfollowing a train of thought independent of her sister-in-law's words.In the midst of a description of the last Petersburg fete sheaddressed her brother:

　　"So you are really going to the war, Andrew?" she said sighing.

　　Lise sighed too.

　　"Yes, and even tomorrow," replied her brother.

　　"He is leaving me here, God knows why, when he might have hadpromotion..."

　　Princess Mary did not listen to the end, but continuing her train ofthought turned to her sister-in-law with a tender glance at herfigure.

　　"Is it certain?" she said.

　　The face of the little princess changed. She sighed and said:"Yes, quite certain. Ah! it is very dreadful..."

　　Her lip descended. She brought her face close to her sister-in-law'sand unexpectedly again began to cry.

　　"She needs rest," said Prince Andrew with a frown. "Don't you, Lise?Take her to your room and I'll go to Father. How is he? Just thesame?"

　　"Yes, just the same. Though I don't know what your opinion will be,"answered the princess joyfully.

　　"And are the hours the same? And the walks in the avenues? And thelathe?" asked Prince Andrew with a scarcely perceptible smile whichshowed that, in spite of all his love and respect for his father, hewas aware of his weaknesses.

　　"The hours are the same, and the lathe, and also the mathematics andmy geometry lessons," said Princess Mary gleefully, as if herlessons in geometry were among the greatest delights of her life.

　　When the twenty minutes had elapsed and the time had come for theold prince to get up, Tikhon came to call the young prince to hisfather. The old man made a departure from his usual routine in honorof his son's arrival: he gave orders to admit him to his apartmentswhile he dressed for dinner. The old prince always dressed inold-fashioned style, wearing an antique coat and powdered hair; andwhen Prince Andrew entered his father's dressing room (not with thecontemptuous look and manner he wore in drawing rooms, but with theanimated face with which he talked to Pierre), the old man was sittingon a large leather-covered chair, wrapped in a powdering mantle,entrusting his head to Tikhon.

　　"Ah! here's the warrior! Wants to vanquish Buonaparte?" said the oldman, shaking his powdered head as much as the tail, which Tikhon washolding fast to plait, would allow.

　　"You at least must tackle him properly, or else if he goes on likethis he'll soon have us, too, for his subjects! How are you?" And heheld out his cheek.

　　The old man was in a good temper after his nap before dinner. (Heused to say that a nap "after dinner was silver- before dinner,golden.") He cast happy, sidelong glances at his son from under histhick, bushy eyebrows. Prince Andrew went up and kissed his fatheron the spot indicated to him. He made no reply on his father'sfavorite topic- making fun of the military men of the day, and moreparticularly of Bonaparte.

　　"Yes, Father, I have come come to you and brought my wife who ispregnant," said Prince Andrew, following every movement of hisfather's face with an eager and respectful look. "How is your health?"

　　"Only fools and rakes fall ill, my boy. You know me: I am busyfrom morning till night and abstemious, so of course I am well."

　　"Thank God," said his son smiling.

　　"God has nothing to do with it! Well, go on," he continued,returning to his hobby; "tell me how the Germans have taught you tofight Bonaparte by this new science you call 'strategy.'"

　　Prince Andrew smiled.

　　"Give me time to collect my wits, Father," said he, with a smilethat showed that his father's foibles did not prevent his son fromloving and honoring him. "Why, I have not yet had time to settledown!"

　　"Nonsense, nonsense!" cried the old man, shaking his pigtail tosee whether it was firmly plaited, and grasping his by the hand."The house for your wife is ready. Princess Mary will take her thereand show her over, and they'll talk nineteen to the dozen. That'stheir woman's way! I am glad to have her. Sit down and talk. AboutMikhelson's army I understand- Tolstoy's too... a simultaneousexpedition.... But what's the southern army to do? Prussia isneutral... I know that. What about Austria?" said he, rising fromhis chair and pacing up and down the room followed by Tikhon, whoran after him, handing him different articles of clothing. "What ofSweden? How will they cross Pomerania?"

　　Prince Andrew, seeing that his father insisted, began- at firstreluctantly, but gradually with more and more animation, and fromhabit changing unconsciously from Russian to French as he went on-to explain the plan of operation for the coming campaign. He explainedhow an army, ninety thousand strong, was to threaten Prussia so asto bring her out of her neutrality and draw her into the war; how partof that army was to join some Swedish forces at Stralsund; how twohundred and twenty thousand Austrians, with a hundred thousandRussians, were to operate in Italy and on the Rhine; how fiftythousand Russians and as many English were to land at Naples, andhow a total force of five hundred thousand men was to attack theFrench from different sides. The old prince did not evince the leastinterest during this explanation, but as if he were not listening toit continued to dress while walking about, and three timesunexpectedly interrupted. Once he stopped it by shouting: "The whiteone, the white one!"

　　This meant that Tikhon was not handing him the waistcoat hewanted. Another time he interrupted, saying:

　　"And will she soon be confined?" and shaking his headreproachfully said: "That's bad! Go on, go on."

　　The third interruption came when Prince Andrew was finishing hisdescription. The old man began to sing, in the cracked voice of oldage: "Malbrook s'en va-t-en guerre. Dieu sait quand reviendra."*

　　*"Marlborough is going to the wars; God knows when he'll return."

　　His son only smiled.

　　"I don't say it's a plan I approve of," said the son; "I am onlytelling you what it is. Napoleon has also formed his plan by now,not worse than this one."

　　"Well, you've told me nothing new," and the old man repeated,meditatively and rapidly:

　　"Dieu sait quand reviendra. Go to the dining room."