第137章

第137章“well，mydearfellow，ihavebeenthinkingaboutyou，”saidprinceandrey，whentheyhadgoneintothebigroomwiththeclavichordinit.“it’snouseyourgoingtothecommander-in-chief；hewillsayalotofpolitethingstoyou，willaskyoutodinewithhim”（“thatwouldn’tcomeamissintheserviceofthatunwrittencode，”thoughtboris），“butnothingmorewouldcomeofit；weshallsoonhaveacompletebattalionofadjutantsandorderlyofficers.butitellyouwhatwewilldo：ihaveafriend，ageneraladjutantandanexcellentfellow，princedolgorukov.andthoughyoumaynotbeawareofit，thefactisthatkutuzovandhisstaffandallofusarejustnowofnoaccountatall.everythingnowisconcentratedabouttheemperor，sowe’llgotogethertodolgorukov.ihavetogotoseehim，andihavealreadyspokenofyoutohim.sowecanseewhetherhemaynotthinkitpossibletofindapostforyouonhisstaff，orsomewheretherenearertothesun.”

princeandreywasalwaysparticularlykeenoverguidingayoungmanandhelpinghimtoattainworldlyess.undercoverofthishelpforanother，whichhewouldneverhaveacceptedforhimself，hewasbroughtintothecirclewhichbestowedess，andwhichattractedhim.heveryreadilytookupboris’scause，andwentwithhimtoprincedolgorukov.

itwaslateintheeveningastheyenteredthepalaceatolmutz，occupiedbytheemperorsandtheirretinues.

therehadbeenonthatsamedayacouncilofwar，atwhichallthemembersofthehofkriegsrathandthetwoemperorshadbeenpresent.atthecouncilithadbeendecided，contrarytotheadviceoftheeldergenerals，kutuzovandprinceschwarzenberg，toadvanceatonceandtofightageneralengagementwithbonaparte.thecouncilofwarwasonlyjustoverwhenprinceandrey，accompaniedbyboris，wentintothepalaceinsearchofprincedolgorukov.everyoneatheadquarterswasstillunderthespellofthevictorygainedthatdaybytheyoungerpartyatthecouncilofwar.thevoicesofthosewhourgeddelay，andcounselledwaitingforsomethingandnotadvancing，hadbeensounanimouslydrownedandtheirargumentshadbeenconfutedbysuchindubitableproofsoftheadvantagesofadvancing，thatwhathadbeendiscussedatthecouncil，thefuturebattleandthevictorycertaintofollowit，seemednolongerfuturebutpast.alltheadvantageswereonourside.ourimmenseforces，undoubtedlysuperiortothoseofnapoleon，wereconcentratedinoneplace；thetroopswereencouragedbythepresenceofthetwoemperors，andwereeagerforbattle.thestrategicpositiononwhichtheyweretoactwastotheminutestdetailknowntotheaustriangeneralweierother，whowasattheheadofthetroops（asaluckychancewouldhaveit，theaustriantroopshadchosenfortheirman？uvrestheveryfieldsinwhichtheyhadnowtofightthefrench）.everydetailofthesurroundingneighbourhoodwasknownandputdownonmaps，whilebonaparte，apparentlygrowingfeebler，wastakingnomeasures.

dolgorukov，whohadbeenoneofthewarmestadvocatesofattack，hadjustcomebackfromthecouncil，weary，exhausted，buteagerandproudofthevictoryhehadgained.princeandreypresentedtheofficerforwhomhewasaskinghisinfluence，butprincedolgorukov，thoughheshookhandspolitelyandwarmly，saidnothingtoboris.obviouslyunabletorestrainhimselffromutteringthethoughtswhichwereengrossinghimatthatmoment，headdressedprinceandreyinfrench.

“well，mydearfellow，whatabattlewehavewon！godonlygrantthattheonewhichwillbetheresultofitmaybeasvictorious.imustown，though，mydearfellow，”hesaidjerkilyandeagerly，“myshort-comingscomparedwiththeaustriansandespeciallyweierother.whataccuracy，whatminuteness，whatknowledgeofthelocality，whatforesightofeverypossibility，everycondition，ofeveryminutestdetail！no，mydearboy，anythingmorepropitiousthanthecircumstanceweareplacedincouldnothavebeenfound，ifonehadarrangeditpurposely.theunionofaustrianexactitudewithrussianvalour—whatcouldyouwishformore？”