Chapter 21 Chapter 21

Pierre set off for Marya Dmitrievna's and informed her that Kuragin had been expelled from Moscow, and that her wish had been granted.The whole family was panicked and anxious.Natasha was seriously ill, and Marya Dmitrievna told him about it, keeping him secret, and late on the night when she revealed to her that Anatole was married, she ate arsenic which she had secretly found.She swallowed a little of the poison, and was so frightened that she woke Sonia and told her about the poison she had taken.The necessary detoxification measures were taken in time, so that she is now out of danger; but her health is too weak to consider sending her to the country, and the countess has already been sent to fetch her.Pierre saw the flustered count and the tear-stained Sonia, but failed to see Natasha.

Pierre was having lunch at the club that day, and he heard from all sides talk of an attempt to abduct Rostov, and he stubbornly refuted the gossip, assuring everyone that it was at best his brother-in-law telling Rostov. The baby proposed to marry him, but was rejected.It seemed to Pierre that it was his duty to conceal the truth and restore Rostova's reputation. He waited with trepidation for Prince Andrew's return, and went to the old prince every day to inquire how he was doing. From Mademoiselle Bourienne, Prince Nikolai Andreitch learned of the gossip that was circulating in the town, and read her note to Princess Marya, in which Natasha had rejected her betrothed.He seemed happier than usual and couldn't wait for his son.

A few days after Anatole's departure Pierre received a note from Prince Andrew in which he informed Pierre that he was back and asked him to come and see him. Prince Andrew had arrived in Moscow, and had hardly entered the house when he received from his father a note from Natasha to Princess Marya, in which she was refusing her fiancé (Mademoiselle Bourienne from Prince Maria snatched the note from Mademoiselle Maria and passed it on to the prince), and Prince Andrei heard his father's embellished account of the abduction of Natasha. On the previous evening Prince Andrew had arrived at home.Pierre came to see him the next morning.Pierre expected that Prince Andrey was almost in the same position as Natasha, so when he entered the drawing room and heard Prince Andrey's loud voice from the study, talking excitedly about some plot about Petersburg , he was very surprised.The voices of the old prince and someone else interrupted him from time to time.Princess Marya came up to Pierre.She sighed and pointed to the door of Prince Andrew's room with her eyes, evidently wanting to sympathize with his distress, but Pierre could see from Princess Marya's face that she was pleased with what had happened and Her brother was also delighted by his fiancée's reaction when he learned of his betrayal.

"He said he expected that," she said. "I know his pride kept him from expressing his feelings, but he was far better at bearing the pain of heart than I expected, and Much better. So, it must be so..." "Is it all over?" said Pierre. Princess Marya looked at him in surprise.She didn't even understand how she could ask such a thing.Pierre went into the study.Prince Andrei, completely changed, visibly stronger, but with a horizontal wrinkle added between his eyebrows, stood opposite his father and Prince Meschersky in civilian clothes, making an emphatic gesture. gestures, arguing vehemently.

The conversation concerned Speransky, whose sudden exile and the false accusations of treason had only just reached Moscow. "Those who admired him a month ago are now interrogating and accusing him (Speransky)," said Prince Andrew, "and they have no way of understanding his intentions. It is extremely easy to interrogate a man who has fallen out of favor." , others have blamed him; so I say that if any good debts have been done during the present monarchy, it is he who did it all..." He paused when he saw Pierre. down.His face trembled, and immediately showed a fierce expression.

"Only posterity will give him justice." After saying this, he immediately turned his face to Pierre. "You're fine! Getting fatter," he said excitedly, but a deeper wrinkle appeared on his forehead. "Yeah! I'm healthy," he sneered in response to Pierre's question.Pierre knew very well that his sneer seemed to say: "I am in good health, but my health is no one's fault." Prince Andrei told Pierre in a few words about a very bad road behind the Polish border. Met some people who knew Pierre in Switzerland, and talked of him bringing from abroad a Monsieur de Salle who was a teacher for his son, and then he made a passionate speech while the two old men went on talking about Speranski.

"Since he is treasonous, and his secret collusion with Napoleon has been proved, it must be made public," he said hastily and hastily. "I didn't and I don't like Speranski myself, but I like justice." At this moment Pierre detected in his friend a well-known urge to stir his heart, argue and Things that have nothing to do with him are designed to suppress an overly heavy heart. After Prince Meschersky had gone, Prince Andrew took Pierre by the arm and invited him into the room reserved for the prince.A made-up bed and several open handbags and boxes were visible in this room.Prince Andrei went up to a chest and took out a small box.From the little box he took out a bundle of things wrapped in paper.He did it silently and quickly.Then he got up and coughed a few times to clear his throat.His face was gloomy and his lips were tightly shut.

"Forgive me if I trouble you..." Pierre understood that Prince Andrew wanted to talk about Natasha, and his broad face expressed sympathy and regret.Pierre's facial expression irritated Prince Andrei, and he went on loudly with determination and displeasure: "I was rejected by Countess Rostova, and besides I heard your brother-in-law propose to her, and so on. rumors. Is it true?" "True and false," began Pierre, but Prince Andrew interrupted him. "Here are her letters and photographs," he said.He picked up a package from the table and handed it to Pierre.

"If you see the countess, give her these things..." "She is very ill," said Pierre. "So she's still here?" said Prince Andrew. "Where's Duke Kuragin?" he asked hastily. "He's gone long ago. She's dying..." "I am deeply sorry that she fell ill," said Prince Andrei.He sneered cruelly, ferociously, unhappily, like his father. "So Herr Kuragin did not give Countess Rostova the honor of proposing marriage?" said Prince Andrew.He snorted a few times. "He cannot marry because he has been married," said Pierre.

Prince Andrei laughed again, like his father, in displeasure. "Where is your brother-in-law at the moment, may I ask?" he said. "He went to Petersburg... I didn't know about it," said Pierre. "But it's all the same," said Prince Andrew, "tell Countess Rostova that she was and is completely free, and I wish her every success." Pierre picked up a bundle of letters.Prince Andrew seemed to be wondering whether he needed to say something to him, or whether Pierre had anything to say, so he fixed his eyes on Pierre. "Listen, do you remember our quarrel in Petersburg," said Pierre, "do you remember about . . . ?"

"I remember," replied Prince Andrew hastily, "that I said I would forgive a lewd woman, but I didn't say that I could forgive her. I cannot." "Can it be compared?..." Pierre said. Prince Andrew interrupted him.He cried out in a piercing voice: "Yes, to propose to her again, to be magnanimous, and so on? . Well... about all this. Good-bye, then. Will you pass it on to her, then? . . . " Pierre went out of the room to the old prince and princess Mary. -------- ① French: Follow in the footsteps of this gentleman. The old man looked more alive than usual.Princess Marya was still the same, but because of her brother's sympathy, Pierre saw that she was also pleased at the setback in his brother's marriage. As Pierre looked at them, he knew in his heart that they He felt extreme contempt and hatred for the Rostovs, and knew that the name of the girl who would rather abandon Prince Andrew for any man could not be mentioned in their presence. The conversation between the luncheons involved the war, and its imminence gradually became undisputed.Prince Andrei, who talked voluntarily, argued now with his father and now with the Swiss teacher Dessalles, seemed more spirited than usual, and Pierre knew very well the reasons for his spirits.