During the latter part of Pierre’s stay in Orel, he received a visit fron an old acquaintance, Count Villarsky, the freemason, who had introduce! him to the lodge in 1807. Villarsky had married a Russian heiress, wh< had great estates in the Orel province, and he was filling a temporary pos in the commissariat department in the town.
Though Villarsky had never been very intimately acquainted witl Bezuhov, on hearing that he was in Orel, he called upon him with thosi demonstrations of friendliness and intimacy that men commonly display on meeting one another in the desert. Villarsky was dull in Orel, and wa; delighted to meet a man of his own circle, who had, as he supposed, thi same interests as he had.
But to his surprise, Villarsky noticed soon that Pierre had quite droppec behind the times, and had, as he defined it himself to Pierre, sunk inti apathy and egoism.
‘You are stagnating,’ he said to him.
But in spite of that, Villarsky felt much more at home with Pierre now than he had done in the past, arid came every day to see him. A:! Pierre watched Villarsky, and listened to him now, it seemed strange 1 and incredible to him to think that he had very lately been the same sor of person himself.
Villarsky was a married man with a family, whose time was taker up in managing his wife’s property, in performing his official duties, anc in looking after his family. He regarded all these duties as a drawbacl* in his life, and looked on them all with contempt, because they were al directed to securing his own personal welfare and that of his family Military, administrative, political, and masonic questions were continually engrossing his attention. And without criticising this view or attempting to change it, Pierre watched this phenomenon—so strange, yei so familiar to him—with the smile of gentle, delighted irony that was now habitual with him.
In Pierre’s relations with Villarsky, with his cousin, with the doctor and with all the people he met now, there was a new feature that gainec him the good-will of all. This was the recognition of the freedom of ever) man to think, to feel, and to look at things in his own way; tire recognition of the impossibility of altering a man’s conviction by words. This legitimate individuality of every man’s views, which had in old days troubled and irritated Pierre, now formed the basis of the sympathetic interest he felt in people. The inconsistency, sometimes the complete
WAR AND PEACE 1043
itagonism of men’s views with their own life or with one another, de- - ghted Pierre, and drew from him a gentle and mocking smile.
In practical affairs Pierre suddenly felt now that he had the centre f gravity that he had lacked in fonher days. In the past every money uestion, especially requests for money, to which as a very wealthy man 2 was particularly liable, had reduced him to a state of helpless agita- on and perplexity. ‘Ought I to give or not to give?’ he used to ask him- ■lf. ‘I have money and he needs it. But some one else needs it more, /ho needs it more? And perhaps both are impostors?’ And of all these oppositions he had in old days found no satisfactory solution, and gave 0 all as long as he had anything to give. In old days he had been in the ime perplexity over every question relating to his property when one erson told him he ought to act in one way and another advised some- hing else.
Now to his own surprise he found that he had no more doubt or hesitation on all such questions. Now there was a judge within him settling /hat he must do and what he must not, by some laws of which he was imself unaware.
Pie was just as unconcerned about money matters as before; but now ie unhesitatingly knew what he ought to do and what he ought not to do. fhe first application of that new power within him was in the case of a risoner, a P'rench colonel, who called on him, talked very freely of his iwn great exploits, and finally delivered himself of a request that was nore like a demand, that he should give him four thousand francs to end to his wife and children. Pierre refused to do so without the slightest lifficulty or effort, and wondered himself afterwards that it had been 0 easy and simple to do what had in old days seemed so hopelessly diffi- ult. At the same time as he refused the French colonel, he made up his nind that he must certainly resort to some stratagem when he left Orel 0 induce the Italian officer to accept assistance, of which he stood in •vident need. A fresh proof to Pierre of his greater certainty in regard 0 practical matters was the settlement of the question of his wife’s debts, md of the rebuilding of his Moscow house and villas in the suburbs.
His head steward came to him in Orel, and with him Pierre went into 1 general review of his financial position. The fire of Moscow had cost ’ierre, by the steward’s account, about two millions.
