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Part 1, Chapters 1-4 | Part 1, Chapters 5-8 | Part 1, Chapters 9-12

• * Anna Pavlovna Scherer holds a soiree and comments on Napoleon's advance through Italy with Prince Vasili Kuragin, who is first to arrive. Anna Pavlovna Scherer is a maid of honor to the Dowager Empress, mother of the Tsar Alexander I. She and Vasili discuss Napoleon's activities, she with the affectations of a woman frequently at court and he with the disinterest of a bored aging man important in court circles and saying things he doesn't mean.

• They talk of Napoleon's activities in Europe and Austria and she says that only Russia can save Europe. Anna says that among her guests are the Vicomte de Mortemart, an aristocratic French man, and the Abbe Morio, a great thinker. She then mentions his daughter and how since her debut in society, everyone is amazed by her beauty.

• Anna says that Prince Vasili...

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