War and Peace

Chapter 54

During his time in Orel, Binair experienced happiness, freedom and the true meaning of life.This feeling intensifies when he sees a lot of new faces during the trip.

[fourteen]
After Moscow's enemies were cleared, people flocked to Moscow from all sides with different motives.

Cossacks from Winzengerode's troops, peasants from nearby farms, and residents hiding in the suburbs were the first Russians to enter Moscow.When they found out that Moscow had been robbed, they joined in the robbing, continuing to do what the French had done.

After the first group of looters came the second group, and the third group.The increase in looters made looting more difficult.

In addition to looters, there are jokers, office workers, and people who bring individuals to Moscow.For example, property owners, monks, officials, merchants, craftsmen and peasants rushed into Moscow like blood pouring into the heart.

[fifteen]
At the end of January, Bin Air returned to Moscow.After staying in the undamaged house, he immediately visited Earl Rushdowberry and many acquaintances who had returned to the city.He intended to set off for Petersburg on the third day.

He had only heard other people talk about the Rostaff family.Now he no longer thinks about Natess in his heart, and even if he does, it's just a happy past.He felt himself liberated not only from life, but from the feeling he had consciously aroused in himself.

On the third day after returning to Moscow, when Bin-Air heard that Princess Moliere was living in his undamaged house, he immediately went to visit her.

On the way to the residence of the Duchess of Molières, Bin-Air recalled the Duke of Andrele, thought of his friendship with him, thought of his contacts with him, especially the last meeting on the eve of the Battle of Polagello. See.

In a room where candles were used, the princess was sitting opposite a figure in black.It was Nates, but Bin-Air did not recognize her at this moment.

Natess had changed greatly since their parting. She had grown thinner and her face was no longer rosy.Not only that, but Bin-Air did not recognize her immediately because of her eyes.Before, these eyes were always full of irrepressible happiness, but now, they are only kind, melancholy, questioning and persistent.There was no trace of happiness on Nates' face.

Bin-Air's presence did not make Natess uncomfortable, but her face took on an almost imperceptible lift at his presence.

[sixteen]
Nates looked at him, and answered his words with bright eyes.At this moment, Bin Air's tension disappeared, but at the same time he felt that the previous sense of freedom also disappeared.He felt that a power more violent than the judge's power was watching over him and condemning him.

The Duchess Molière was as reluctant to speak of the Duc d'Andrell as before.But Bin-Air's unusually different eyes and trembling cheeks made her slowly muster up the courage to tell more and more details about the things she was afraid of remembering.

Nates talked about her last days with Duke Andrele, because the first time she heard Natess talk about the last days of waiting with her brother, Princess Molier couldn't help being very excited.

It is a narrative that is both sad and happy, and it is clearly indispensable to Natès.She mingled secrets with insignificant details, and she seemed to go on talking for a lifetime, and several times she kept saying the same thing.

[seventeen]
Bin-Air was invited into a brightly lit dining room.A few minutes later, following the sound of hurried footsteps, the princess and Natess entered inside.There was no smile on Nates' face, but it could be seen that her mood was peaceful.

The princess said to Bin-Air: "Tell your story. Everyone is talking about your strange experience!" "I ask you, you didn't know about the death of the countess in Moscow, did you?" Princess Moliere After asking this question, her face turned crimson.Then she added: "So you are free again, and you can marry again."

Bin-Air blushed, and tried his best not to look at Nates.After supper, Bin-Air was gradually drawn into the subject of his capture.At the outset he narrates with mild irony, both to others and to himself; but later, when he speaks of the terror and pain he has experienced, he cannot help but immerse himself in them, with the same air of recalling intense past experiences. Insurmountable excitement.

The princess smiled softly, looking now at Bin-Air and now at Nadice.Through these conversations, she knew only Bin-Air and his kindness.Nates rested her head on her hands, and her facial expressions changed with the ups and downs of the conversation. Obviously, she was experiencing everything he said with him.Her gaze, her exclamation, and her question all showed that she was understanding what he wanted to express, and it also showed that she understood not only what he said, but also all that he could not express in words.She listened intently to Bin-Air's description, watching his every subtle expression and every movement.

The princess understood and sympathized with his story, but she also saw something else, namely, the possibility of love and happiness between Nates and Bin-Air.The thought entered her mind, and she immediately became excited about it.

It was three o'clock in the morning.The waiters came in to replace the candles, but none of the interlocutors paid them any attention.When not talking, Bin-Air said to Natess: "We used to think that when we got out of the old life track, everything was over, but in fact, new and good things just appeared at this time. As long as there is Life, and there will be a grandeur. There are countless things ahead of us. This is all I want to explain to you."

As usual, the princess and Natess met in the bedroom.They continued talking about what Bin-Air had said then.

"I told everything today, very happy, although my heart was heavy and painful; I believed that Andreet loved him, so I told him... Is it all right?" Involuntarily red.

The princess went on to say: "Of course it's all right! This man is so kind." "Molier," Natsie said, with the naughty smile that Princess Molier hadn't seen for a long time, "he has become so clean. , spirit, as if just came out of the bathroom. Do you understand my thoughts?"

"Yes, he has become much better." Princess Molière responded.

[eighteen]
That night, Bin-Air couldn't sleep.He paced the room, frowning, shrugging, and smiling contentedly.

He thought of the Duke of Andrele, recalled his love with Natess, he was jealous of Natess in the past, for this, he sometimes hated himself and sometimes tolerated himself.At six o'clock in the morning, he was still walking square steps back and forth in the room. "This kind of happiness is interesting and impossible, but I must try my best to get it." He said to himself.

When Bin-Air walked into Princess Moliere's house again, he didn't know if he really met Natess here last night. "Maybe it's my imagination," he thought.But as soon as he entered the room, her presence was felt with all his being, and the sense of freedom in him was gone again.She was still dressed as yesterday, but her appearance was completely different.

She seemed to be back to the way he had known her, and the way she had been since her engagement to André.Her eyes are bright and happy, and her expression is cute and mischievous.

Bin-Air came early the next day.He sat here almost all night after dinner.

After Natess left, Bin-Air's uneasiness disappeared immediately, replaced by abnormal excitement and happiness.He moved his chair towards the princess and said to her nervously:
"Princess, help me. Is it possible for me? I know I'm not good enough for her, and I know I can't talk about it now. But I'd like to be her brother. No, I don't—"

The princess understood exactly what he meant, and said: "Write to her parents and leave the matter to me, and I will help you. My instinct tells me that it can be done."

The next day, Bin-Air said goodbye in a hurry.He was looking into Nates' eyes all the time, and he felt that there was nothing but a feeling of happiness.When he grasped her hand tightly to say goodbye to her, he couldn't help but hold the small, slender hand for a long time, refusing to let go.

[nineteen]
For Nates, Bin-Air didn't find anything similar to the emotion he felt when he wooed Hanli.

A maddened emotion prevailed over him that Bin-Air had never expected.For him, the whole meaning of life, and even the meaning of the whole world, lies in whether Natess loves him or not.

In dealing with Hanli's affairs, he has no memory of his dead wife, and he regrets that she cannot understand his happiness.

He found virtue in others in order to love them; now he loves others for no reason because he is so full of love, and thus finds many reasons for loving.

[twenty]
From the first night of Bin-Air's absence, when Natss said, with a cheerful sarcasm, that Bin-Air "as if he had just come out of the bathroom," there was something about her, her What I haven't realized yet, but something I have no power to resist is awakening.

The revived vitality was so irresistible on Nates, which made Princess Molière feel that she had no reason to reprimand her even secretly.

Natesse's whole being was absorbed in this new feeling with all sincerity, which she had no intention of concealing.Now, she has no sentimentality, only happiness and joy.

That night, when the princess returned to her bedroom after chatting with Bin-Air, Natess was waiting for her at the door.

"He said it? Did you?" On Nates' face, there was an expression of excitement and shame at the same time.

Princess Molière understood, moved and sympathized with Natess' expression.But in that first moment, she was ashamed because she thought of her brother, but with his love for her.

"But there is no choice, she can only do this." Princess Moliye thought about it, and with a worried and serious expression, she told her everything Bin-Air had said.Natess was very surprised to hear that Bin-Air was going to Petersburg.

(End of this chapter)