War and Peace

Chapter 2

Part One

[One]

"Monsieur duke, Genoa and Lucca are only the domains of Napoleon's family. Now I remind you officially that if you don't let me know that we have a war, if you continue to cover up all the crimes of this traitor to Christ, I will no longer be with you, and you don't have to regard me as a friend anymore, not my 'best friend', as you said."

This is what Erina Charleau said when she met the Duke of Vauchile, an important guest who came to the banquet for the first time in July [-].She is the female officer and confidant next to the queen.

"My God, what an unbearable reproach!" replied the prince, who had entered the room, and he did not in the least feel wronged by this reception.He was wearing a striped evening dress, stockings, and long shoes, with a medal on his chest, and a slightly serious expression on his slightly fat face.

He spoke French very well, and his voice was so soft, he moved towards Aina, bent his perfumed shiny bald head towards her, kissed her hand, and then sat back on the sofa slowly On the road, he chatted enthusiastically with Aina.

Vauhilie always talked in a casual manner, as if an actor was saying a confession from an old play.On the contrary, although Aina is 40 years old, she is still very energetic.

She talked to the duke about the situation, about the guests at the banquet, and about the empress whom she loved so much.Then, after a brief pause, she leaned towards the Duke, smiling sweetly, as if to say that this was the end of state affairs, and that heart-to-heart conversations were about to begin now. "I often think that people's blessings are so uneven. Why did fate give you two such sensible children, two such reassuring children? Your youngest son Angladuli is disobedient, and I don't like him," She raised her eyebrows and added without excuse, "But you, let me tell you the truth, you really don't deserve to be their father."

Duke Vauchille frowned. "What do you want me to do?" he said at last. "You know that I did everything I could to educate them, but neither of them lived up to it. Yepiritai at least And a little bit of self-knowledge, while Unladuli is arrogant. That's the only difference between them." He said, smiling more unnaturally and excitedly, so that the wrinkles around his mouth stood out. Unexpectedly vulgar and especially offensive.

Aina pondered for a moment. "It never occurred to you to find a wife for your dissolute son Angladuli? It is said that older women love to be matchmakers. I haven't felt this weakness myself, but I have long since fallen in love with him." A girl who lives with her father and lives in misfortune is Princess Balkonskaki."

Prince Vauchille did not speak, but, with the keen insight and memory peculiar to a diplomat, he nodded silently to show that he understood what he said. "Oh, do you understand? Unladuli will cost me forty thousand rubles a year." He said, obviously unable to suppress his displeasure, and he paused for a moment. What to do? That's the advantage of being a father. How much money does your princess have?"

"Her father was rich, but very stingy. He lived in the country, and he was, you know, the famous Prince Bolkonski, who retired from the ranks of the late Emperor, and was nicknamed 'Prussian. King'. He has a sharp mind, but a peculiar temper, which is difficult to approach. The poor lady is very unfortunate. Her brother is Kotusov's adjutant, and he just married Lince Mainan a few days ago. Maybe today too."

"Listen to me, dear Aina," said the Duke, who suddenly took Aina's hand, and for no reason pulled her hand down. "Help me make this marriage happen. I will be grateful to you for the rest of my life. She is a good lady, and the family has money, which is exactly what I need."

He held the lady's hand and kissed it for a while with a very characteristic casual, intimate, and elegant movement, and then while holding the lady's hand, he reclined on the armchair, but his eyes were looking at the ceiling.

"Don't worry," Aina said silently, "I'm going to have a talk with Linsi tonight, and I hope it can be done."

[two]

In Aina's living room, there are more and more people.All the dignitaries and nobles of Petersburg came. Although they were different in gender, age, and personality, they came from the same high-level society.The very beautiful Hanli, the daughter of the Duke of Vauchille, also came.She wore a ball gown and a lady's badge.There was also the young, petite Princess Okonkaya, the most fascinating woman in Petersburg, married only three months ago, and now pregnant.Usually do not show up in crowded places, but still participate in small-scale evening parties.Yebiritai, the son of the Duke of Vauhile, brought Motmar, whom he had introduced, and Father Morillo and many other guests were present.

The beautiful Duchess of Bonkail carried a velvet bag embroidered with gold in which were many of her ornaments.Her beautiful upper lip has light black fluff, and the upper lip is slightly raised, with neat and white teeth, and the slightly raised upper lip makes her look even more lovely.Any guest would be thrilled to see this expectant mother who is still active despite being pregnant.

The petite Duchess, bag in hand, swayed around the table with short steps, tugged at her blouse with great pleasure, and sat down on the sofa by the samovar, as if whatever she was doing was for herself and for her side. For people, the mood is equally comfortable.

"Petite Duchess, she is a very lovely person!" Duke Vauchile said softly to Aina.Not long after the petite Duchess arrived, a handsome young man came in. He had short-cut hair, wore a pair of short-sighted glasses, and wore dark blue fashionable trousers, a brown tuxedo and a high pleated collar.This handsome and intelligent young man was the illegitimate son of Count Binzokhov, who was a well-known high-ranking official during the Ekaterina period and was already lying ill on a hospital bed.He hadn't gone to work yet, he was studying in a foreign university, and he had just returned to China this time, and this was the first time he attended such a banquet.Aina nodded to him, which was her courtesy to the most ordinary class of people in her living room.Although it was a simple greeting, when she saw Bin-Air coming, Aina's face still showed a bit of displeasure, as if she saw a tall and burly person who was not in harmony with the environment in the house.

After a brief greeting with Bin Air, Aina resumed her duties as hostess. She listened and observed, just like a supervisor of a textile factory, after placing the workers in place, she checked back and forth and adjusted continuously. The rhythm of machines and workers.Seeing that the people on the left were silent, she hurried over and said a few words to mobilize the emotions of the guests and make the talking machine start to run normally again.But while doing all this, she still showed her fear of Bin-Air.She watched Bin-Air with great concern when she was talking to others.Bin-Air knew that famous people from all over Petersburg were gathered here, and his eyes seemed to roll back and forth like the eyes of a child in a toy store.He's always worried about missing meaningful conversations he might overhear.He patrolled the people here to see if he had any new insights.At last he went up to Father Morillo, waiting for an opportunity to say something of his own, as ordinary young people like to do.

[three]

Aina's party went very well.Everyone was divided into three teams.In the first group, there are male guests, and the priest is the center; in the second young people’s group, the center is Hanli, the Chinese girl, and Bao, who is beautiful, beautiful, heavily made-up, and bloated due to youth. Princess Alkonskaya; in the third group, the central figures were Prince Mortmar and Ina.

Aina wanted to treat her guests well with the viscount who is well-mannered and talented.She offered the viscount first, and then the priest, as two extremely delicious dishes for her guests.Viscount Mortemar was talking about the murder of the Duke of Enghien.The vicomte said that the Duke of Enghien's death was mainly caused by his generosity, while Napoleon's hatred had other factors.

"Come here quickly, dear Hanli." Aina said to Hanli, the central figure in the second group sitting on the other side.

Princess Hunley rose to her feet, smiling, with the kindly smile that had been on her face ever since she came into the drawing room.As she passed among the men who flashed her way, she looked even more graceful in a white gown trimmed with lace, enhanced by her fair face, smooth hair and diamonds.She walked towards Aina without looking to either side, but she smiled at everyone, as if she was generously granting the right to admire her beautiful figure, full bust, bare chest and back. Everyone here.

"What a beautiful person!" everyone who saw her whispered.She sat down in front of the Viscount, still looking at him with the same smile. At this moment, the Viscount seemed to be frightened by something unusual. He shrugged his shoulders and lowered his head.

"Madam, in front of so many friends, I'm really worried about my ability." He lowered his head and said with a smile.

The princess put her round bare arm on the little table, and felt that she had nothing to say.She waited with a smile on her face.Patiently listening to other people's stories, she sat upright, sometimes looking at the plump, beautiful arms propped on the table, sometimes fiddling with the diamond necklace, and admiring her beautiful chest.She straightened the wrinkles on her skirt a few times, and when the story came to a good point, she turned her head and glanced at Aina, and immediately showed the same expression on Aina's face, and then smiled knowingly, feeling at ease up.After Hanli came, the petite Duchess also left the tea table and came over.

The Viscount very touchingly told the very popular story that the Duke of Enghien went to Paris to meet Miss Georges behind his back, and happened to meet her lover Napoleon; Couldn't bear to kill Napoleon, but Napoleon later executed the Duke to repay the Duke's loyalty.

The story is very touching and very interesting, especially when the two rivals suddenly recognize each other, almost all the women clap their hands.

"Excellent!" Aina turned her face to look at the petite Duchess with an inquiring expression, and said.

"Brilliant!" said the petite Duchess, sticking a needle into her handiwork, as if to indicate that the wonderful and amusing story had stopped her from working.

The Viscount valued this kind of silent praise, he pursed his lips movedly, and started to talk again: But at this moment, Aina suddenly found that the conversation between the young man she had always paid attention to and the priest was too impulsive and loud Yes, she hurried over to help coordinate.Sure enough, Bin-Air talked to the priest about the current situation, and the priest was expressing his opinion on the young man.The two of them were talking too excitedly and excitedly, as if no one else was there, which made Aina feel very displeased.To interrupt their conversation, she led them into the crowded squad.

At this time, another guest walked into the living room.The guest was the young Prince Andrei Bolkonski, husband of the petite Duchess.The Duke Andrele was a handsome young man of medium height, refined manners, and stern expression.His whole body, from the bored and tired eyes to the leisurely gait, formed a sharp contrast with his petite lady.It seems that not only does he know all the guests here, but he is also bored with them, and he doesn't even want to take a look at them, and if he listens to a word from them, he will feel very bored.Of all the people who bored him, the one who bore him the most seemed to be his wife.He made a grimace that didn't quite match his appearance, and turned away.He kissed Aina's hand, then narrowed his eyes and looked around at the people present. "Are you going to fight, Duke?" Aina asked. "General Kotusov asked me to be his adjutant." "Is your wife Linse going with you?" "No! She's going back to the country." Bin-Air had been there since he arrived here from André. Without taking his eyes off him, smiling, he approached Andrée and took his hand.Duke Andrele didn't even turn his head. He frowned, expressing his dislike for someone to hold his hand, but when he turned his head and saw Bin-Air's face full of smiles, he showed an unexpected and kind smile.

"Oh! . . . how did you come here!" he said to Bin-Air. "I knew you would come," replied Bin-Air, "I'm going to your place for dinner, is that all right?" Clear, needless to say?He wanted to speak a little longer, but now the Duke of Vauchille and his daughter had business to say goodbye to, and they were going to a reception at an embassy.Princess Hanley pulled her skirt briskly and passed between the chairs, with a smile on her beautiful face.As she passed by Bin-Air, Bin-Air looked at the beauty with an almost fanatical surprise.

"It's very pretty," said the Duke Andryl. "Beautiful," said Bin-Air.Duke Vauchile came up to him, grabbed Bin Air's arm, turned to Aina and said, "You just do his job, let him attend more parties, this is the first time he has seen him appear in a social occasion .What young people need more than anything else is social situations where smart women are present."

[Four]

Aina smiled and agreed to do Bin-Air's job, she knew that Bin-Air's father and Duke Vauchile were still relatives.An old lady who had been sitting on one side in the cold at first stood up hastily and caught up with Duke Vauchile at the door.An expression of anxiety appeared on her simple, tear-stained face.The old lady was the Princess Talubinskaya, and her family was also considered middle class, but it was now in decline, and she didn't have much contact with the upper class.She came to this evening just because of the reputation, just to see the Duke of Vauchil, and asked the Duke to arrange a position for her only son, Blitz, in the Guards, and elected Blitz as Kotusov's adjutant. .

"Listen to me, Prince," she said, "I have never begged you before, and I will never beg you again. I have never told you about my father's friendship with you before. But today, I I implore you, for God's sake, arrange a position for my son, and I will never forget your great kindness."

Reluctant as he was, the Duke of Vauchille felt spiritually condemned after the old Duchess's constant pleadings.She reminded him of the past: when he started his official career, he was promoted by her father.In addition, he could also see from her attitude that some women, especially women who are mothers of children, once they make up their minds, they will never give up if they fail to achieve their goals, and she is this kind of woman in front of her.The latter consideration made him change his mind, and his daughter Hanli kept urging him, reminding him that he was going to be late, so he agreed.The Duchess returned to the team, and the Viscount was still making a speech, but she pretended to be listening, waiting to find a reason to leave, because her business was done.

The guests were talking about Napoleon at this time.The Viscount said: "Since the Duke of Enghien was killed, even those who supported him the most did not regard Napoleon as a hero. The death of the Duke is like adding a martyr to the sky and missing a hero from the earth."

Before Aina and the other guests had time to praise the viscount's speech with smiles, Bin-Air interrupted again. Although Aina expected that he would say some unrealistic words, she had no time to stop him up.

(End of this chapter)