Chapter 5 chapter Five

With a never-ending smile on his face, Nicholas sat slightly bent in his armchair, leaning over the fair-haired woman, and paying her some fabulous compliments. Nicholas deftly shifted the position of his feet in straight breeches, smelling of perfume, admiring the lady in front of him, admiring the outlines of himself and his own feet in scruffy riding boots, he told her What he wants to do in Voronezh: kidnap a lady. "What's it like?" "Glamorous, goddess-like. Her eyes (Nicolas glances at the interlocutor) are blue, her mouth is like red coral, snow-white..." He looked over the shoulder, "a figure like Diana's ..."

-------- ①The moon and the goddess of hunting in Roman mythology. The husband came over and asked the wife gloomily what was going on. "Oh! Nikita Ivanitch," said Nikolay, standing up respectfully, and then, as if wishing Nikita Ivanitch would join him in jesting, he abducted himself The blond woman's plan told him. The husband smiles sadly, the wife smiles happily.The kindly wife of the governor came towards them with a look of disapproval. "Anna Ignatievna wants to see you, Nicolas," she said, and the tone of the name made Rostov understand at once that Anna Ignatievna was an important lady. . "Let's go, Nicolas. You asked me to call you that?"

"Oh, yes, matante (aunt). Who is she?" "Anna Ignatievna Malywintseva. She heard from her niece that you saved her life... Can you guess it?..." "I have rescued many of them!" said Nicholas. "Her niece, Princess Bolkonskaya. She lives here, in Voronezh, with her aunt. Why, look at you blushing! Don't you? ..." "Didn't think so, don't guess, matante." "Hey, good, good. Heh! You really are!" The governor's wife led him to a tall, rich old lady in a straight blue cap, who had just finished a game of cards with the most important person in the town.This was Malyvintseva, the aunt of Princess Marya, a rich and childless widow who had always lived in Voronezh.She was standing counting cards when Rostov came up to her.She squinted at him sternly and haughtily, and went on cursing the general who had won her money.

"Nice to meet you, my dear," she said, and held out her hand to him. "Please come and see me in the cottage." The self-respecting old lady talked a little about Princess Marya and her late father (whom Maliwentseva obviously didn't like), and asked about Prince Andrey, whom Nikolay knew well (who apparently didn't win her either). Huanxin), told him several times that he was invited to visit the house, and then let him go. When Nikolai bowed to Malyvintseva and promised her to call, he blushed again.At the mention of Princess Marya, Nicholas experienced a feeling of shame and even fear that he could not describe.

Leaving Malyvintseva, Rostov wanted to go back to the dance, but the petite governor's wife put her plump hands on Nikolay's sleeve, and said she wanted to talk to him, and led him into the living room. , the people inside immediately withdrew, so as not to hinder the governor's wife. "You know, moncher (my dear)," said the governor's wife with a serious expression on her petite and kind face, "she is really a suitable match for you; do you want me to be your matchmaker?" "Who is it, Matante?" asked Nikolay. "I'm proposing for the princess. Katerina Petrovna said Lily, and my opinion is, no, it should be the princess. Will you? I'm sure your mother will appreciate me. Really, much Nice girl, what a charm! She's not ugly at all."

"Not at all," said Nicholas, as if offended. "I, matanBte, am like a soldier. I neither ask for nor refuse." Rostov said this before he could think of an answer. "You have to remember: this is not a joke." "What a joke!" "Yes, yes," said the prefect's wife, as if talking to herself, "and one more thing, monch-er, entreautres, vousetestropassiduaupres del'autre, lablonde, poor husband, really..." -------- ①My dear, you are too attentive to that person, to that blonde woman. "Oh, no, he and I are friends," said Nikolai with the simplicity of his heart: it never occurred to him that his pleasant pastimes would cause displeasure to others.

"But what stupid things did I say to the governor's wife!" Nicholas suddenly remembered at dinner. "She really started to be a matchmaker, what about Sonia?..." And when she said goodbye to the governor's wife, she smiled and said to him again: "Well, you have to remember." He led her aside and said: "Well, I want to tell you the truth, ma, tante..." "Say what, my friend, let's sit down here." Nikolay suddenly felt that he wanted to speak, that he had to speak, that he wanted to tell this woman, who was almost an outsider, what was in his heart (thoughts he would not have spoken to even his mother, sister, and friends).Later, when Nicholas recalled this inexplicable impulse to be frank with no motive, but which had great consequences for him, it seemed to him (as everyone feels in such cases) that it was a moment. but it was this frank impulse, together with other little things, that had great consequences for him and for his family.

"Well, Matante, Mammy has long wanted me to marry a rich woman; but I object to the idea of ​​marrying for money alone." "Oh, yes, I understand," said the Governor's wife. "But Princess Bolkonskaya—that's another matter; first of all, I will tell you the truth, she is very attractive to me, she is very suitable to my heart, and besides, when I was in that situation After meeting her, I used to think, very strangely: this is fate. Especially if you think about it: Mommy thought of this long ago, but I didn't have a chance to meet her earlier, and for some reason, it happened like this: We can't meet. Besides, as long as my sister Natasha is her brother's fiancée, it is impossible for me to think about marrying her. I should meet Natasha after the breakup of the engagement, then everything will be... that's how it is .I have never told anyone, and I will never tell anyone. Only you."

The governor's wife pressed his elbow gratefully. "Do you know Sophie, my cousin? I love her, I promise to marry her, and I will marry her... So you see, this matter cannot be discussed." Nicholas blushed inappropriately. Say. "Moncher, moncher, why do you think so? Sophie doesn't have nothing, you said yourself, your father's family business is in a bad situation. And your mother? It will kill her immediately. This is First, let’s talk about Sophie, if she is a caring girl, what kind of life will she lead? The mother is desperate, and the family is in decline... No, moncher, you and Sophie should understand this."

Nicholas was silent.He was pleased to hear such conclusions. "Anyway, matante, it's impossible," he said with a sigh after a moment's silence. "I don't know if the princess is willing to marry me. Besides, she is in mourning. Can such a thing be considered?" "Do you think I will let you marry now? Ilyamaniereet maniere. "① said the governor's wife. -------- ①Everything has certain rules. "What a matchmaker you are, matante..." Nicolas said, kissing her plump little hand.