War and Peace

As they drive to Count Kirill Vladimirovich Bezukhov’s, Princess Anna Mikhailovna tells Boris to be respectful toward his godfather. When they arrive, the porter tells them the Count is too ill to receive anyone, but Anna Mikhailovna gets him to summon Prince Vassily, who’s currently staying there. Though the Prince indicates that Count Bezukhov is on his deathbed, Anna Mikhailovna, undeterred, insists on seeing him. Meanwhile, she sends Boris to invite Pierre to dinner at the Rostovs’.

Pierre returned several days ago, after being banished to Moscow for his part in the antics with the bear. (He still hasn’t chosen a career.) His cousins, the three young Bezukhov princesses, are cold toward him. When Boris comes in, he finds Pierre pacing his room, pretending he’s Napoleon in the act of conquering London. Pierre doesn’t recognize Boris at first and mistakes him for a Rostov son.

Pierre engages Boris in conversation about Napoleon’s Villeneuve expedition, but Boris isn’t familiar with the news. He tells Pierre that people in Moscow only care about gossip—which currently revolves around Count Bezukhov and his fortune, though Boris assures Pierre that he and his mother, though poor, will never ask the Count for anything. Pierre agrees to come for dinner at the Rostovs’. Boris rejoins Anna Mikhailovna, who is in a flutter about the Count’s condition and wants to spend the night to care for him.