Ooh, we're checking in on Helene now. She's been with the court to Vilna and has now returned to St Petersburg and now has a problem because she was protected by a young foreign prince in the latter and by a magnate in the former, and now both are in the same place. She wins by positing herself as the victim and refusing to accept any iota of guilt. She even gets herself admitted to the Catholic Church and becomes something of an emblem of purity. She knows that this is done so she'll donate to the right causes, so she insists that they help free her from her husband before she hands over a penny. Eventually, they agree that her husband - Pierre - was not of the true faith, so it is not right she should be bound by promises to him, but she did marry him in a church and then commit adultery. Helene points out that, having now found a true religion, she should not be bound by what she was forced to do under a false religion. It seems like she's going to get her own way.
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