第80章

第80章princeandreystayedatbr？nnwitharussianofhisacquaintanceinthediplomaticservice,bilibin.

“ah,mydearprince,there’snooneicouldhavebeenmorepleasedtosee,”saidbilibin,comingtomeetprinceandrey.“franz,taketheprince’sthingstomybedroom,”hesaidtotheservant,whowasusheringbolkonskyin.“what,amessengerofvictory？that’scapital.i’mkeptindoorsill,asyousee.”

afterwashinganddressing,princeandreycameintothediplomat’sluxuriousstudyandsatdowntothedinnerpreparedforhim.bilibinwassittingquietlyatthefireplace.

nothisjourneyonly,butallthetimehehadspentwiththearmyonthemarch,deprivedofalltheconveniencesofcleanlinessandtheeleganciesoflife,madeprinceandreyfeelnowanagreeablesenseofreposeamongtheluxurioussurroundingstowhichhehadbeenaccustomedfromchildhood.moreover,afterhisaustrianreception,hewasgladtospeak—ifnotinrussian,fortheytalkedfrench—atleasttoarussian,whowould,heimagined,sharethegeneralrussiandislike（whichhefeltparticularlykeenlyjustthen）fortheaustrians.

bilibinwasamanoffive-and-thirty,abachelor,ofthesamecircleasprinceandrey.theyhadbeenacquaintedinpetersburg,buthadbecomemoreintimateduringprinceandrey’slaststayatviennawithkutuzov.justasprinceandreywasayoungman,whopromisedtorisehighinamilitarycareer,bilibinpromisedtodoevenbetterindiplomacy.hewasstillayoungman,butnotayoungdiplomat,ashehadbeenintheservicesincehewassixteen.hehadbeeninparisandincopenhagen;andnowinviennahefilledapostofconsiderableimportance.boththeforeignministerandourambassadoratviennaknewhimandvaluedhim.hewasnotoneofthatgreatmultitudeofdiplomatswhosequalificationislimitedtothepossessionofnegativequalities,whoneedsimplyavoiddoingcertainthingsandspeakfrenchinordertobeverygooddiplomats.hewasoneofthosediplomatswholikeworkandunderstandit,andinspiteofhisnaturalindolence,heoftenspentnightsathiswriting-table.heworkedequallywellwhatevertheobjectofhisworkmightbe.hewasinterestednotinthequestion“why？”butinthequestion“how？”whatconstitutedhisdiplomaticwork,hedidnotmind,buttodrawupacircular,amemorandum,orareportsubtly,pointedly,andelegantly,wasataskwhichgavehimgreatpleasure.apartfromsuchlabours,bilibin’smeritswereesteemedthemorefromhiseaseinmovingandtalkinginthehigherspheres.

bilibinenjoyedconversationjustasheenjoyedwork,onlywhentheconversationcouldbeelegantlywitty.insocietyhewascontinuallywatchingforanopportunityofsayingsomethingstriking,anddidnotenterintoconversationexceptundersuchcircumstances.bilibin’sconversationwascontinuallysprinkledwithoriginal,epigrammatic,polishedphrasesofgeneralinterest.thesephraseswerefashionedintheinnerlaboratoryofbilibin’smind,asthoughintentionally,ofportableform,sothatinsignificantpersonscouldeasilyrememberthemandcarrythemfromdrawing-roomtodrawing-room.andbilibin’sgoodthingswerehawkedaboutinviennesedrawing-roomsandafterwardshadaninfluenceonso-calledgreatevents.

histhin,lean,yellowfacewasallcoveredwithdeepcreases,whichalwayslookedascleanandcarefullywashedasthetipsofone’sfingersafterabath.themovementofthesewrinklesmadeupthechiefplayofexpressionofhiscountenance.atonemomenthisforeheadwrinkledupinbroadfurrows,andhiseyebrowswerelifted,atanothermomenthiseyebrowsdroopedagainanddeeplinescreasedhischeeks.hisdeep-set,smalleyeslookedoutfranklyandgood-humouredly.

“come,now,tellusaboutyourvictories,”hesaid.bolkonskyinthemostmodestfashion,withoutoncementioninghimselfinconnectionwithit,describedtheengagement,andafterwardshisreceptionbythewarminister.

“theyreceivedmeandmynewslikeadoginagameofskittles,”heconcluded.

bilibingrinned,andthecreasesinhisfacedisappeared.

“allthesame,mydearfellow,”hesaid,gazingfromadistanceathisfinger-nails,andwrinklinguptheskinoverhislefteye,“notwithstandingmyhighesteemfortheholyrussianarmament,iownthatyourvictoryisnotsoremarkablyvictorious.”

hewentontalkinginfrench,onlyutteringinrussianthosewordstowhichhewishedtogiveacontemptuousintonation.

“why？withthewholemassofyourarmyyoufellupontheunluckymortierwithonedivision,andmortierslippedthroughyourfingers？where’sthevictory？”

“seriouslyspeaking,though,”answeredprinceandrey,“wecanatleastsaywithoutboastingthatit’sratherbetterthanulm…”

“whydidn’tyoucaptureusone,atleast,onemarshal？”

“becauseeverythingisn’tdoneasoneexpectsitwillbe,andthingsarenotasregularasonparade.wehadexpected,asitoldyou,toattacktheenemyintherearatseveno’clockinthemorning,butwedidnotarriveatituntilfiveo’clockintheevening.”

“butwhydidn’tyoudoitatseveninthemorning？yououghttohavedoneitatseveninthemorning,”saidbilibin,smiling;“yououghttohavedoneitatseveninthemorning.”

“whydidn’tyoueedinimpressingonbonapartebydiplomaticmethodsthathehadbetterleavegenoaalone？”saidprinceandreyinthesametone.