第250章

第250章atthattime，asalwaysindeed，theexaltedsocietythatmetatcourtandatthegreatballswassplitupintoseveralcircles，eachofwhichhaditsspecialtone.thelargestamongthemwasthefrenchcircle—supportingthenapoleonicalliance—thecircleofcountrumyantsevandcaulaincourt.inthiscircleellentookaleadingposition，assoonasshehadestablishedherselfinherhusband’shouseinpetersburg.shereceivedthemembersofthefrenchembassy，andagreatnumberofpeople，notedfortheirwitandtheirpoliteness，andbelongingtothatpoliticalsection.

ellenhadbeenaterfurtatthetimeofthefamousmeetingoftheemperors；andhadthereformedclosetieswithallthenotablefiguresineuropebelongingtothenapoleoniccircle.inerfurtshehadbeenbrilliantlyessful.napoleonhimself，seeingheratthetheatre，hadaskedwhoshewas，andadmiredherbeauty.hertriumphsinthecharacterofabeautifulandelegantwomandidnotsurprisepierre，forwithyearsshehadbecomeevenmorebeautifulthanbefore.butwhatdidsurprisehimwasthatduringthelasttwoyearshiswifehadeededingainingareputationas“acharmingwoman，aswittyassheisbeautiful，”aswassaidofher.thedistinguishedprincedelignewroteherlettersofeightpages.bilibintreasureduphismotstoutterthemforthefirsttimebeforecountessbezuhov.tobereceivedincountessbezuhov’ssalonwaslookeduponasacertificateofintellect.youngmenreadupsubjectsbeforeoneofellen’ssoirées，soastobeabletotalkofsomethinginhersalon，andsecretariesoftheembassy，andevenambassadors，confideddiplomaticsecretstoher，sothatellenwasinawayapower.itwaswithastrangefeelingofperplexityandalarmthatpierre，whoknewshewasverystupid，sometimesatherdinnersandsoirées，listenedtoconversationaboutpolitics，poetry，andphilosophy.atthesesoiréesheexperiencedasensationsuchasaconjurormustfeelwhoexpectseverymomentthathistrickwillbediscovered.buteitherbecausestupiditywasjustwhatwasneededfortheessfulmanagementofsuchasalon，orbecausethosewhoweredeceivedtookpleasureinthedeception，thecheatwasnotdiscovered，andthereputationof“acharmingwoman”clungsopersistentlytoelenavassilyevnabezuhov，thatshecouldutterthevulgarestandstupidestspeeches，andeveryonewasjustasenthusiasticovereveryword，andeagerlyfoundinitaprofoundmeaningofwhichshedidnotdreamherself.

pierrewasexactlythehusbandneededbythisbrilliantsocietywoman.hewasthatabsent-minded，eccentric，grandseigneurofahusband，whogotinnobody’swayandfarfromspoilingthegeneralimpressionofthehighesttoneinherdrawing-room，formedbyhiscontrastwithhiswife’seleganceandtactanadvantageousfoiltoher.pierre’scontinualconcentrationonimmaterialinterestsduringthelasttwoyears，andhisgenuinecontemptforeverythingelse，gavehiminhiswife’scircle，whichdidnotinteresthim，thattoneofunconcern，indifference，andbenevolencetowardsallalike，whichcannotbeacquiredartificially，andforthatreasoncommandsinvoluntaryrespect.heenteredhiswife’sdrawing-roomasthoughitwereatheatre，wasacquaintedwitheveryone，equallyaffabletoall，andtoallequallyindifferent.sometimeshetookpartinconversationonsomesubjectthatinterestedhim，andthen，withoutanyconsiderationwhetherthe“gentlemenoftheembassy”werepresentornot，hemumbledouthisopinions，whichwerebynomeansalwaysinharmonywiththereceivedcatch-wordsofthetime.butthepublicestimateoftheeccentrichusbandof“themostdistinguishedwomaninpetersburg”wasnowsowellestablishedthatnoonetookhissalliesseriously.

amongthenumerousyoungmen，whoweredailytobeseeninellen’shouse，borisdrubetskoy，whohadbynowachievedmarkedessintheservice，was，afterellen’sreturnfromerfurt，themostintimatefriendofthebezuhovhousehold.ellenusedtocallhim“monpage，”andtreatedhimlikeachild.hersmileforhimwasthesamesmileshebestowedonall，butitwassometimesdistastefultopierretoseethatsmile.borisbehavedtopierrewithamarked，dignified，andmournfulrespectfulness.thisshadeofrespectfulnesstoodisturbedpierre.hehadsufferedsomuchthreeyearsbeforefromthemortificationcausedhimbyhiswife，thatnowhesecuredhimselffromallpossibilityofsimilarmortification；inthefirstplace，bybeinghiswife’shusbandonlyinname，andsecondly，bynotallowinghimselftosuspectanything.“no，nowshehasbecomeablue-stocking，shehasrenouncedforeverherformererrors，”hesaidtohimself.“therehasneverbeenaninstanceofablue-stockinggivingwaytotenderpassions，”herepeatedtohimself；amaximhehadpickedupsomewhereandimplicitlybelieved.but，strangetosay，thepresenceofborisinhiswife’sdrawing-room（andhewasalmostalwaysthere）hadaphysicaleffectonpierre；itseemedtomakeallhislimbscontract，anddestroyedtheunconsciousnessandfreedomofhismovement.

“suchastrangeantipathy，”thoughtpierre；“andatonetimeireallylikedhimverymuch.”

intheeyesoftheworld，pierrewasagreatlord，theratherblindandabsurdhusbandofadistinguishedwife；aclevereccentric，whodidnothingbutwhowasnotroubletoanyone，agood-natured，capitalfellow.inpierre’ssoulallthiswhileacomplexandlaboriousprocessofinnerdevelopmentwasgoingonthatrevealedmuchtohimandledhimtomanyspiritualdoubtsandjoys.