In Which We Discuss War and Peace, Part 4, Chapters 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16

Chapter 10

Nikolai Rostov's role in the duel has been hushed-up by his father, so rather than being demoted, he is appointed an adjutant to the governor general of Moscow and so must stay in Moscow all summer.  He spends a lot of time with Dolokhov and his mother, Mary Ivanovna.  She is firmly convinced that Pierre was in the wrong in the duel and goes on about it for like a page.  

When the rest of the Rostov family return in the autumn, their home becomes very popular with young men, since it contains Vera, Sonya, and Natasha.  Every young man who visits experiences a feeling of readiness to fall in love and an expectation of happiness.  Natasha does not approve of Dolokhov, and is very firmly convinced that Pierre was in the right.

Natasha also does not like the fact that Dolokhov has fallen for Sonya and hangs around her constantly, even though she's still in love with Nikolai.  Nikolai dismisses this, but is still less comfortable with Sonya and Dolokhov than previously.

In the autumn, everyone starts talking about the war with Napoleon again.  It's still ongoing, and more men are being recruited.  Nikolai intends to return to his regiment with Denisov, as soon as Denisov is available.

Chapter 11

It's the third day after Christmas, and Nikolai is, unusually for him, dining at home.  He and Denisov will be departing for their regiment after Epiphany (6th of January, if I recall correctly).  Nikolai arrives just before dinner, and notices an uncomfortable atmosphere.  He surmises that something has happened between Sonya and Dolokhov.

The dancemaster Iogel - who has also not appeared before - is holding a ball tonight and Natasha begs her brother to come along.  Denisov - who she calls Vasili Dmitrivich, but the footnote tells me his identity - is also going.  Nikolai says he has other plans and asks Dolokhov if he's going.  Dolokhov is sulking and throwing dirty looks at Sonya.  After dinner, Nikolai asks Natasha for the tea.

Dolokhov has proposed to Sonya, and Nikolai has some emotions in response to this.  From the point of view of society, this is the equivalent of the Prince marrying Cinderella, and there's no realistic way for Sonya to refuse.  Nikolai prepares to say happy things, but Natasha carries on and tells him that Sonya did refuse.  Natasha says she knows for certain that Nikolai won't marry her, but he tells her not to be so sure and says he must speak to Sonya, 

Natasha goes to send Sonya to Nikolai.  When Sonya arrives, he calls her 'Sophie' - just to be extra confusing - and says that, if she refused Dolokhov on his account then he must confess that he loves her more than he loves anyone, but also he has been in love a thousand times and will be again.  He adds that none of this compares to the feelings of friendship, confidence and love that he feels for Sonya, but he is young, and his mother doesn't approve of them marrying, and he can't make any promises.  He begs her to reconsider Dolokhov's offer.  

Sonya swears that he loves Nikolai as a brother, and that she wants nothing from him.

Nikolai tells her he she is an angel, and he is afraid of misleading her before kissing her hand, which some people could consider misleading.

Chapter 12

Iogel throws the best balls in Moscow, and this year (1806), two marriages have arisen from them.  The ballroom is in one of Pierre's houses, and the Rostov's girls are some of the prettiest there.  Sonya is particularly happy to have refused Dolokhov and had such a dramatic and romantic talk with Nikolai, and is ready to dance.  Natasha is proud of her first long dress and going to her first ball, and falls in love with everyone as soon as she walks in.  Along the sidelines, Denisov is telling Nikolai how lovely Natasha - Nikolai's baby sister - is, which is uncomfortable for everyone.  Iogel encourages them to dance, but Denisov reminds him of what a poor pupil he was.  Nikolai asks Sonya to dance while Denisov goes to amuse the old ladies, who are also sitting along the sidelines, and watching Natasha dance with Iogel.  Nikolai knows that Denisov is particularly good at the mazurka, the dance currently being danced, and persuades Natasha to ask him.  It takes some pleading, but Denisov finally agrees.  It's basically the dancing scene from Final Fantasy VIII - Denisov is surprisingly good.

Iogel doesn't approve because it was the Polish mazuka and not the real mazuka, but no one cares.  Denisov doesn't leave Natasha's side all evening.

Chapter 13

Nikolai doesn't hear from Dolokhov until three days later, when Dolokhov sends a sulky note, informing Nikolai that Dolokhov will be returning to his regiment asap and inviting him to a farewell supper.   Nikolai goes and finds that they're gambling.  He sees that Dolokhov is in one of his cruel, bullying moods.

Dolokhov gets Nikolai to join the game, and Nikolai keeps losing.  Dolokhov reassures him that he'll win eventually.  I don't believe him.  Nikolai has only 2000 rubles to last until May, and Dolokhov has let him play with IOUs, which basically means there's no limit to what he can lose.  While he's praying for a seven to turn up, he vows to never gamble again.

Dolokhov reminds everyone of a rumour that he's a card sharper before completely failing to turn up the seven Rostov needs.

Chapter 14

It's 90 minutes later, and Nikolai has kept gambling, hoping he'll hit a winning streak.  He hasn't.  He estimates his debt at around 15,000 rubles, but it's actually well over 20k.  When I said he only had 2000 rubles left, that's all his father was able to spare him, so there aren't family resources to cover this debt.  Dolokhov has decided to get it up to 43,000 because that's the combined sum of his and Sonya's ages.

Nikolai knows that Dolokhov is doing this on purpose, but is baffled as to why.  He keeps hoping it will all come right somehow.

Dolokhov ends the game as soon as Nikolai's debt crosses 43,000 rubles.  Nikolai tries to persuade him to keep playing while grimly contemplating suicide.  Dolokhov agrees to a match for 21 rubles, because Nikolai's exact debt is 43,021, and deals him a winning hand.

Dolokhov asks when he'll get his money, and Nikolai offers an IOU.  Dolokhov reminds him of the saying "Lucky in love, unlucky in cards" and bring up the fact that Sonya still has feelings for him.  Nikolai has been hating Dolokhov more and more throughout this game, and he knows that Dolokhov could just let him off the hook but instead is choosing to torment him.  He promises that he'll have the money tomorrow and leaves.

Chapter 15

Nikolai is not looking forward to going home and asking for the money, especially because they're all so happy and having so much fun when he arrives.  Denisov is performing a song he's written, called "Enchantress".  Nikolai goes in to ask where his father is, and immediately gets pounced on by his mother and sister.  His father isn't home, so he paces up and down in the music room while Natasha sings.  Both Sonya and Natasha notice there's something wrong, but Natasha is having too much fun to ask him about it right this second and decides she must be mistaken.  She has a lovely voice, and has just started taking singing seriously.  Her singing finally succeeds in distracting Nikolai - he realises that nothing else really matters.  He begins to harmonise, barely noticing that he's singing.

Chapter 16

Nikolai's good mood only holds as long as the song does, and then he's back to fretting about money.  He goes off to his own room and then out to meet his father when he hears him arriving.  He gets up his nerve to confess that he owes 43,000 rubles and that he's promised to pay it by tomorrow, and the old Count is stunned.  Nikolai casually says it can't be helped and happens to everyone, and hates himself a little bit for saying it when he should be begging his father's forgiveness.

The old Count agrees that it could happen to anyone while muttering that the sum will be difficult to raise, and then leaves the room.  Nikolai had expected resistance, but in the fact of his father's acceptance, he bursts into tears and finally begs forgiveness.

Meanwhile, Natasha and her mother are talking.  Denisov has proposed, and Natasha is offended by her mother's disapproval.  Her mother says that, well, if she's in love, she should marry him, and Natasha confesses that she isn't, and asks her mother's advice on letting him down gently.  Her mother offers to tell him for her, and Natasha refuses, running off to tell Denisov that she loves him very much as a friend.  He cries.  Natasha's mother walks in, thanks him for the honour, but points out that her daughter is very young and he should have asked her mother first.  Natasha cries then too, because she feels so bad for him.

Denisov leaves the next day, with Nikolai waving him goodbye.  Nikolai remains for two weeks, waiting for his father to raise the money and hanging out with his sister and cousin.  Sonya is more loving than ever, but Nikolai now considers himself beneath her.  He skulks away back to the regiment once he's paid his debt.  They're in Poland.

...and that's the end of part 4!  We're 29% through!

In Which We Discuss War and Peace, Part 4, Chapters 7, 8, and 9

Chapter 7

It's been two months since the battle of Austerlitz, so I think we've gone back in time a little.  Prince Andrew's body has not been found and nor is he on the list of prisoners, which means he may have been picked up as a prisoner of war and be dying amongst strangers (which is where we last saw him).  Despite the diplomatic phrasing of the letter he receives, the old prince, Andrew's father, knows the Russian army have been defeated, and suspects that his son is dead.  Shortly afterwards he receives Kutuzov's personal account of Andrew's charge and subsequent fall.  Kutuzov is pretty sure Andrew is alive, or at least was alive when the battle ended, because otherwise he'd be amongst the lists of the dead.  When Maria goes to her father that day, something in his face tells her that he is about to inform her of the worst misfortune of her life, and she guesses that it's Andrew's death.  Her sobbing father tells her of Kutuzov's letter, which gives her hope.  They weep together a little, but then her father tells her to go tell Lise, Andrew's wife.

When Maria arrives, Lise immediately asks her to feel the baby kicking.  Maria starts crying every time she tries to tell Lise about Andrew, and Lise is too unobservant to figure it out herself.   It's not until the old Prince comes to see her but leaves without saying a word that she twigs.  Maria insists that it's nothing though, having resolved not to tell Lise until after the baby is born.  Maria keeps hoping, but her father believes that Andrew is dead and erects a monument in the garden.  He's pining away.

Chapter 8

This chapter begins with Lise going into labour and Maria going to fetch the midwife, Mary Bogdanova.  The narration usually calls Maria 'Mary', or sometimes 'Masha', which might make this chapter confusing.  I think Maria is prettier, so I'm sticking with it.  Maria spends Lise's labour praying, which she does not find as calming as usual.  Her old nurse, Praskovya Savishna comes to spend time with her.

Incidentally, today I read that this book has 600 named characters, many of which only appear for a chapter.  Apparently Tolstoy felt that they all had interesting backstories and history even if they weren't relevant to this book.

Apparently there was a superstition that women in labour suffered less the fewer people who know of it, so everyone is staying quiet and pretending to have absolutely no idea of what's going on.  It goes on all night and no one sleeps.  A German doctor is coming from Moscow, and it's snowing, since it's only March.  The old nurse is knitting and telling Maria the story of her own birth when someone they think is the doctor arrives outside.  Maria rushes down to meet him - and it's Andrew!  He had sent a letter but it didn't arrive.  He heads off to see his wife.

Chapter 9

We're still at Bald Hills.  I was a bit worried about the narrative going off to another storyline, because there are generally a few going on, and I don't understand how Tolstoy has decided to organise his chapters/parts.  Lise is happy to see Andrew, but she never knew he was suspected to be dead, so she's not as happy as Maria was.  Andrew calls her 'darling' for the first time ever, which is quite sweet considering her never thought of her once in that warzone.  The midwife sends him out to wait with his sister.  The narrative does not mention cigars, but I must assume they are present.

Andrew goes to wait in the room next to the one his wife is in, and tries to get into her when she starts screaming more loudly but he's not allowed.  A few minutes later he hears a baby cry and at first he's confused because he thinks they've carried a baby in.  It takes him a few seconds to realise that his child has been born and then he starts weeping.  When he goes in, Lise is dead, and her face seems to say to him "I have done nothing, why have you done this to me?".  She looks the same when she's buried, a few days later, and Andrew feels that he's done something terribly, awfully wrong.

The baby is christened Prince Nicholas Andreevich Bolkonski, with his grandfather and aunt as his godparents.  The chapter ends with Andrew being told that the wax with the infant's hair in it floated in the font, which I'm going to google.

All of the results - for a search on "hair wax font float" - are about this chapter, but apparently it was an old tradition, and a sign of good luck.  That seems a bit odd, since witches are supposed to float, but since wax naturally floats, it was probably better not to have to drown every single baby that was baptised.

In Which We Discuss War and Peace, Part 4, Chapter 6

Chapter 6

We're back to Pierre, who has not seen his wife alone in ages, since they always have loads of visitors.  He doesn't even go back to their bedroom today (unclear whether they actually share a room, since it's referred to as 'his') but goes to his father's room, the room in which Count Bezukhov died.  He tries to take a nap, but his emotions are too strong.  He feels guilty about having killed Dolokhov - as he believes - especially because he never loved Helene.  He felt proud of her beauty, and her social skill, but now acknowledges that she is "a depraved woman", especially when he remembers her brother, Anatole coming to beg for money and kiss her shoulders.  He also remembers her laughing contemptuously when he asked if she might be pregnant, and saying she wasn't such a fool as to want children and certainly not by him.  Pierre has no confidante, he's just dealing with all this alone, poor big dumb kitten.  He believes it's all his fault for marrying her without loving her, and for never acknowledging before now that he knew she was depraved.  He wonders what he must suffer in repence.    He's still puzzling over that when he decides to leave Moscow for St Petersburg so he doesn't have to deal with Helene, but she walks in while he's still getting ready to leave.  She knows about the duel and wants to talk about it.

She looks at him with a contemptuous smile - which sounds like a Tuesday at this point - and demands to know about the duel and what he meant it to prove.  She taunts him, insists that Dolokhov wasn't her lover but know she will be the laughingstock of Moscow and everyone will think Pierre a drunken fool.  Honestly, I'm getting r/raisedbynarcissists flashbacks.  She says she only prefers Dolokhov's company because he's cleverer and more agreeable than Pierre, which is obviously nonsense.  She says any woman married to Pierre would take a lover.  I hope she takes a cannonball to the chest in the next battle.

Pierre knows he has to get out of the situation, but is almost afraid to say he wants a divorce.  He gets the words out though, and Helene demands his fortune, which is what she married him for in the first place.  I've run out of golddigger gifs.  Pierre almost hits her with a marble slab and tells her to get out.

Helene runs out, but the next week Pierre gives her full power to control all the estates in Great Russia, i.e., most of his property and leaves for St Petersburg.

In Which We Discuss War and Peace, Part 4, Chapters 3, 4, and 5

Chapter 3

Everyone is very excited about the dinner for Prince Bagration, and 'Kutuzov' is a dirty word.  Also, people are wearing Russian kaftans, which I did not know was a thing, but I like them! Prince Bagration is feeling awkward, especially when someone reads out a poem about him.  After the meal, there are many toasts, beginning with the Emperor.  The most interesting thing is that we learn that Bagration's first name is Peter, after which everyone sings a song to him.  Count Ilya Rostov is very moved, especially when they toast him, for organising the whole thing.

Chapter 4

I forgot to mention - I sat my last exam this morning!  Not just the last exam for this academic year, but the last in my entire degree!  I do have another year to go, because I'm doing an MSci in Genetics, but the last year is the project, so there is no exams, only coursework.  I also hope to do a PhD after this.  Anyway, I've been reading this book since second year, not because it's particularly hard going - it's just long and has a lot of characters - but because I leave long gaps between chapters.  I've read books of comparable length in the meantime - 1q84 and Atlas Shrugged, for instance - but they were a bit easier, because I didn't commit to sitting at my PC and typing each chapter.  I've also not read a Stephen King novel in two years, though I do still consider myself to be in the middle of reading his entire published work.  I'll likely change my daily goal to being a few pages or a percentage of his novels, once I've finished that.  Anyway, what I've been building up to saying is that my new goal is to read 3 chapters a day of War and Peace, which should have been finishing by early September.  I'm moving house, going on 2-3 holidays and working during that period, so we'll see how it goes.  Two of those holidays are see-the-place-do-the-thing type holidays, but the other one is a relaxing-in-a-hot-tub type holiday, so I might get more reading done on that last one.

Chapter 4 of book 4 opens with Pierre, Dolokhov, and Nikolai.  Pierre is depressed, and has heard many hints (from his half-sister and nasty anonymous letters) about his wife and Dolokhov.  He steadfastly refuses to believe these rumours - because he's a loyal big dumb kitten - but still doesn't want to be in Dolokhov's company.  He is beginning to see how other people could believe these rumours, even while he's denying them to himself.

When Dolokhov came back from war, a few months back, he came straight to Pierre, who put him up and leant him money.  Helene approved of this, and Dolokhov was very complimentary about her.  Dolokhov stayed with them until they came to Moscow, though I'm not sure quite how long that's been - days, or weeks, or maybe a month or two.  Can't be much longer, since they got back from battle at the end of Autumn and it's early spring now.

Pierre is remembering how Dolokhov looks when he's cruel, like when he tied that policeman to the bear, way back in chapters 10-11 of book 1 (I didn't need to look that up - it's my favourite fun fact about this book), and thinking that Dolokhov probably would enjoy betraying Pierre's trust.  Though, of course, he still doesn't believe it.  Denisov has joined Nikolai and Denisov, sitting across from Pierre, and they seem very gay.  I am not going to make a joke about Nikolai's love for the Emperor here.  Rostov's throwing dirty looks at Pierre, firstly because he seems like a boring old woman, having not gone to war and being married and so on, and secondly because he didn't greet Nikolai or even seem to notice when he arrived.  Just to pile insult on insult, Pierre doesn't even join in the toast to Emperor Alexander.

Rostov calls him out at that last one, and Pierre sighs and joins the toast.  He then realises that he recognises Nikolai and greets him, but Nikolai is busy huzzahing.  Dolokhov and Denisov try to get him to acknowledge Pierre, but Nikolai is now busy being offended.  Pierre can't hear them, but knows they're talking about him, and goes red.  Poor big dumb kitten.  Someone should pick him up and put him in a nice book, not Mean Girls in a 19th Century Warzone (and Peace) which is what I appear to be reading now.  Denisov says "one should make up to the husbands of pretty women,", and Dolokhov turns to Pierre and toasts the health of lovely women and their lovers.

Honestly, I have gone right off Dolokhov.  Pierre joins the toast without looking at or answering Dolokhov.  It's only when the waiter hands Pierre - as a honoured guest - a leaflet with Kutuzov's cantata and Dolokhov snataches it that Pierre finally loses his temper.  Two men nearby - "Nesvitski and the neighbour on this right", who I'm not sure we've met before - know the rumours about Dolokhov and Helene, and are pretty sure this will devolve into a brawl soon, and react in alarm.  Dolokhov is pleased to have finally gotten a reaction out of Pierre, who challenges him to a duel.  As he hears himself making the challenge, Pierre finally realises that he does believe the rumours, and that he hates Helene and is forever sundered from her.

Personally, I am convinced that Dolokhov wrote the anonymous letter himself, just to be a dick.

Nesvitski agrees to act as Pierre's second, and Nikolai will be Dolokhovs.  The duel is for the next day.  Pierre goes home, while Dolokhov, Nikolai, and Denisov remain at the club "listening to the gypsies and other singers".  When Dolokhov is leaving, Nikolai asks if he's calm, and Dolokhov shares his philosophy of dueling.  It's oddly similar to Granny Weatherwax's - you go in convinced that the other person is going to lose.

Next day, at 8am, they all meet at the Sokolniki forest.  Denisov has come too.  Pierre seems distracted, and does not appear to have slept.  He's now certain of the affair, but is still forgiving towards Dolokhov.  Apparently, his logic is that since he means nothing to Dolokhov, Dolokhov has done nothing wrong in betraying him.  Poor big dumb kitten.  He's pretty sure that the two outcomes are either that he will kill Dolokhov or that Dolokhov will hit him in "the head, or elbow, or knee".  It doesn't seem to cross his mind that Dolokhov is prepared to kill him.

When everything's ready, Nesvitski tries to tell Pierre that he's in the wrong and should apologise so there won't be a duel.  I think this is like the thing people do where they ask people to be nice to racists or to pretend not to be gay in front of homophobes, rather than just asking people not to be racist or homophobic, because they think the nice people will make less of a fuss.  Pierre agrees that the whole situation is horribly stupid, but the duel is still going to happen.  

Chapter 5

No one quite seems to know how to begin the duel, and there is some awkward back and forth.  Pierre is smiling in an eerie way.  Denisov decides to act as referee.  Pierre successfully shoots a gun for the first time in his life, and manages to injure Dolokhov's hand.  I am completely on Pierre's side here.  Dolokhov played stupid games and won a stupid prize.  He starts to beg, and Pierre's emotional shell cracks, and he sobs and rushes towards him.  Dolokhov tells him to go back to his barrier though - he still wants to duel.  Pierre faces Dolokhov and waits for the shot.  Dolokhov manages to miss entirely and then faints.  Pierre runs off into the forest, muttering about folly, death, and lies. 

Dolokhov is silent until Nikolai and Denisov get him back to Moscow, when he starts crying about having killed his mother, who will surely be heartbroken when she sees him dying.  He asks Nikolai to go on ahead and warn her, and Nikolai does so, surprised to learn the Dolokhov lives with his old mother and hunchback sister and "was the most affectionate of sons and brothers".  Why is he such a dick to everyone else then?

In Which We Discuss War and Peace, Part 4, Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The Rostovs are rich now, due to remortgaging all their property, so Nikolai gets a whole new wardrobe to gad about Moscow in now he's back.

Rostov now considers himself a man, having gone off to war and come home with a Cross of St George, which I had assumed was only an English thing.  He's still a little enamoured with the emperor, and has not gone back to Sonya but is cultivating manly pursuits like hanging out with generals, and going to the races.  

It's now March, and Count Ilya Rostov is ordering a dinner for Prince Bagration at the English Club, where Nikolai has also been hanging out.  This involves much discussion of menu and flowers.  Anna Mikhaylovna is still here, and, honestly, I am bored of her.  She's going to go bother Pierre, because he has both flowers and a letter from Darling Bory.  Apparently, Helene has had an affair with Dolokhov.

In other news, everyone in Russia has been shocked by the defeat at Austerlitz and no one quite knows what to think.  Everyone is blaming it on the Austrians and the Polish and French generals.  Prince Bagration is considered a hero for being the only man to withdraw his column unbroken.  If I recall correctly, that's because they never actually entered the battle.  Also, approving of Bagration is a way of showing disapproval to Kutuzov.  At the end of the chapter, we finally learn that Bolkonski died.  It's possible that that's only what the gossips of Russia believe, since we last saw him wounded and in French custody, but he was very badly wounded.

In Which We Discuss War and Peace, Part 4, Chapter 1

Chapter 1

That battle took place - if I recall correctly - in October or so of 1805.  It's now early in 1806 and Nikolai Rostov is on leave, on his way home to Moscow to see his family.  He's invited Denisov, but Denisov has drunk 3 bottles of wine and is having a little snooze in the cab as Nikolai gets more and more excited about being home.  He forgets Denisov entirely when he reaches his house and his family try to smother him with hugs and kisses.  Sonya - his cousin and girlfriend - is now sixteen, very pretty, and gazing at him lovingly.  Anna Mikhaylovna, mother of Darling Bory is also there because apparently she doesn't have a home to go to.  Denisov comes in as Nikolai's mother is sobbing all over his Hussar's uniform and wipes his eyes at the sight.  Denisov - whose first name is also Vasili, which I am sure will not be confusing at all - is introduced to the family, and Natasha calls him "Darling Denisov!", leaps on him and kisses him, which is confusing for all.  No one wants to let Rostov out of their sight.  Rostov is happy, but kept expecting to feel happier.  

Rostov and Denisov sleep in until 10am the next, when Rostov's family can bear it no longer and the servants start bustling around getting them ready for the day.  Petya, Nikolai's little brother, is obsessed with the weapons they've brought home.  As soon as Nikolai is up and dressed, Natasha leaps on him again, constantly talking, laughing, and admiring his moustache.

Sonya ran away as soon as she saw Nikolai, which confuses him.  He asks Natasha about it, and she ignores the question and asks if he's going to refer to Sonya with 'thou' (intimate form) or you (more formal).  He says "as may happen" and Natasha insists that he use 'you' and she'll explain why later, so clearly there is some juicy gossip here.

Apparently, Sonya has nobly decided to renounce Nikolai, even though she will love him forever, because she doesn't want him bound by childhood promises.  Nikolai insists that he would rather like to be bound by that promise, and Natasha says they knew he'd say that, but they've decided.

Nikolai thinks it over for a minute, and while Sonya is very lovely and also in love with him, and he realises he has a lot of interests other than just being married and decides to just go with it for now.  They move on to talking about whether Natasha is true to Darling Bory and she laughs at the very idea.  She says "I don't think about him or anyone else and I don't want anything of the kind".  Now she's got a crush on a dancer called Dupont, which seems fair enough for a fifteen-year-old girl.  Better than ending with a gold digger like Pierre did with Helene.

Natasha has decided she is going to be single forever and become a dancer.

At breakfast, Nikolai isn't sure how to act around Sonya and he's convinced that everyone is looking at them.  They exchanged detailed looks, indicating that, firstly, she will always love him and is sorry of reminding him of his promise, and, secondly, he will always love her but he is grateful for his freedom.  The eldest sister, Vera, comments on how oddly they're behaving and that they've changed their form of you, and everyone feels uncomfortable, even Nikolai and Vera's mother.  She's glad they're not getting married, she wants a better match for Nikolai.  Denisov finally turns up to breakfast and is the perfect gentleman, which is a bit of a surprise for Nikolai.

In Which We Discuss War and Peace, Part 3, Chapters 18 and 19

Chapter 18

Rostov is still looking for Kutuzov and/or his beloved emperor, but he can only find crowds of disorganised troops.  Eventually someone tells him that they've already run away, but Rostov dismisses him as a drunk.  Someone else tells him that Emperor Alexander rode away in his carriage an hour ago, and Rostov marvels at just how many drunks there are in the Russian army today.  They did have vodka for breakfast, so it can't be that much of a surprise.  The next rumour he hears is that the commander in chief is wounded, having been struck by a cannon ball in the chest, but that it wasn't Kutuzov.  Rostov decides that that must be what has happened to the Emperor.  When he asks for directions, he's told that the road ahead is certain death, but decides to take it anyway, because what is his life without Tsar Alexander in the world?

Rostov finally reaches a village, where he hears that the carriage was, in fact, driven by Count Tolstoy and the Emperor really was wounded, or maybe not.  The rumour mill is grinding.   Rostov hears a rumour that someone from HQ was seen in the village behind them, and goes searching for them.  It turns out that it is his beloved Emperor!   Nikolai knows he needs to speak to him and deliver his message, but he loses his nerve at actually approaching the Tsar.  All his planned speeches were intended for noble moments, like after victory or when he's dying heroically in the Tsar's arms, not at 4 o'clock in the afternoon while asking for instructions that were needed at 9am.  Captain von Toll - who we haven't met before - happens to be riding past and goes to comfort the emperor, and Rostov is struck with jealousy and despair.  He goes after Kutuzov, having lost the emperor.

It's now 5pm and the battle is lost on all flanks.  I'm not sure if Andrew is dead or not, but I think he might have been the one who took a cannonball to the chest, so probably.  Dolokhov is the only one left of his regiment (can't recall if that's the one Andrew was in) because everyone else is dead by cannonball.  He tries to run across the ice on a frozen lake with a crowd of others, but it sinks as the cavalry follow them and everyone dies.

Chapter 19

Andrew is alive!  He's been lying where he fell all die, because he's pretty injured.   He regains consciousness properly as night falls and tries to figure out where he is.  He can't move, since he's lost quite a lot of blood.   It's probably for the best, because Napoleon is wandering around nearby, admiring the Russian dead as "fine men".   He calls Bolkonski's "a fine death", since Andrew is so still, but then Andrew manages a groan and gets captured as a prisoner of war.  He loses consciousness again, until the next day when he's taken to a French hospital.  Napoleon comes to see him and a few others as members of Tsar Alexanders honoured guard, but all Andrew can think about it is how insignificant his hero now seems, compared to the sky he saw as he was dying.  The cross his sister Marya gave him had been taken by a French soldier, but is hastily returned when they see how respected these guards are by Napoleon.  Andrew thinks about how he envies his sister's faith, which is the first time he's thought of his sister throughout the whole book.  He still hasn't thought about his unborn child.