Next day the countess called Boris aside and had a talk with him, after which he ceased coming to the Rostovs'.

On the thirty-first of December, New Year's Eve, 1809 --10 an old grandee of Catherine's day was giving a ball and midnight supper.

The diplomatic corps and the Emperor himself were to be present.

The grandee's well-known mansion on the English Quay glittered with innumerable lights.