War And Peace: Book 12 - CHAPTER II - Free Ebook Download

aBestBook.com

aBestBook>Novel> War And Peace: Book 12 - CHAPTER II

War And Peace: Book 12 - CHAPTER II

E-book Introduce



ANNA PAVLOVNA'S PRESENTIMENT was in fact fulfilled. Next day, during the

special service at court in honour of the Tsar's birthday, Prince Volkonsky was

called out of church and received a despatch from Prince Kutuzov. This was the

despatch Kutuzov had sent off on the day of the battle from Tatarinovo. Kutuzov

wrote that the Russians had not retreated a single step, that the French had

lost far more than our troops, that he was writing off in haste from the field

of battle before he had time to collect the latest intelligence. So it had been

a victory, it appeared. And at once, without leaving church, the assembled court

offered up thanks to the Creator for His succour, and for the victory.



Anna Pavlovna's presentiment had been fulfilled, and the whole morning a mood

of joyous festivity prevailed in the town. Every one accepted the victory as a

conclusive one, and some people were already beginning to talk of Napoleon's

having been taken prisoner, of his disposition, and the selection of a new

sovereign for France



At a distance from the scene of action and amid the conditions of court life,

it is very difficult for events to be reflected in their true force and

dimensions. Public events are involuntarily grouped about some private incident.

So in this case, the courtiers' rejoicing was as much due to the fact of the

news of this victory having arrived precisely on the Tsar's birthday as to the

fact of the victory itself. It was like a successfully arranged surprise.

Kutuzov's despatches had spoken, too, of the Russian losses, and among them had

mentioned the names of Tutchkov, Bagration, and Kutaissov. The melancholy side,

too, of the event was unconsciously in this Petersburg world concentrated about

a single incident¡ªthe death of Kutaissov. Every one knew him, the Tsar liked

him, he was young and interesting. All met that day with the words:



¡°How wonderful it should have happened so! Just in the Te Deum. But what a

loss¡ªKutaissov! Ah, what a pity!¡±



¡°What did I tell you about Kutuzov?¡± Prince Vassily said now with the pride

of a prophet. ¡°I always said he was the only man capable of conquering

Napoleon.¡±



But next day no news came from the army, and the public voice began to waver.

The courtiers suffered agonies over the agonies of suspense which the Tsar was

suffering.



¡°Think of the Emperor's position!¡± the courtiers said; and they no longer

sang the praises of Kutuzov as two days before, but upbraided him as the cause

of the Tsar's uneasiness that day. Prince Vassily no longer boasted of his

prot¨¦g¨¦ Kutuzov, but was mute when the commander-in-chief was the subject of

conversation. Moreover, on the evening of that day everything seemed to conspire

to throw the Peters-burg world into agitation and uneasiness: a terrible piece

of news came to add to their alarms. Countess Elena Bezuhov died quite suddenly

of the terrible illness which had been so amusing to talk about. At larger

gatherings every one repeated the official story that Countess Bezuhov had died

of a terrible attack of angina pectoris, but in intimate circles people told in

detail how the Queen of Spain's own medical attendant had prescribed to Ellen

small doses of a certain drug to bring about certain desired results; but that

Ellen, tortured by the old count's suspecting her, and by her husband's not

having answered her letter (that unfortunate, dissipated Pierre), had suddenly

taken an enormous dose of the drug prescribed, and had died in agonies before

assistance could be given. The story ran that Prince Vassily and the old count

had been going to take proceedings against the Italian; but the latter had

produced notes in his possession from the unhappy deceased of such a character

that they had promptly let him go.



Conversation centred round three melancholy facts¡ªthe Tsar's state of

suspense, the loss of Kutaissov, and the death of Ellen.



On the third day after Kutuzov's despatch, a country gentleman arrived in

Petersburg from Moscow, and the news of the surrender of Moscow to the French

was all over the town. This was awful! Think of the position of the Emperor!

Kutuzov was a traitor, and during the ¡°visits of condolence¡± paid to Prince

More Information

  • No download links here ?
  • Please check the description for download links if any or do a search to find alternative books.
  • Can't Download ?
  • Please leave a comment if you can't find download links for "[request_ebook] Neatest Little Guide To Stock Market Investing" in "Description" and someone else may upload/update this book. Check the comments page when back to find any updates.
  • Copyright Disclaimer:
  • Contents of this page are from the Internet, the copyright belongs to the original page. Check the original page for copyright statement. All actions are under your responsability, please delete them after 24 hours or purchase it. Email us to report illegal contents and we'll delete them immediately.

Comments