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At the ladies' end an even chatter of voices was heard all the

time, at the men's end the voices sounded louder and louder,

especially that of the colonel of hussars who, growing more and

more flushed, ate and drank so much that the count held him up as

a pattern to the other guests. Berg with tender smiles was saying

to Vera that love is not an earthly but a heavenly feeling. Boris

was telling his new friend Pierre who the guests were and

exchanging glances with Natasha, who was sitting opposite. Pierre

spoke little but examined the new faces, and ate a great deal. Of

the two soups he chose turtle with savory patties and went on to

the game without omitting a single dish or one of the wines.

These latter the butler thrust mysteriously forward, wrapped in a

napkin, from behind the next man's shoulders and whispered: "Dry

Madeira"... "Hungarian"... or "Rhine wine" as the case might be.