Pagina 598 de 3800

Pierre, on unexpectedly becoming Count Bezukhov and a rich man,

felt himself after his recent loneliness and freedom from cares

so beset and preoccupied that only in bed was he able to be by

himself. He had to sign papers, to present himself at government

offices, the purpose of which was not clear to him, to question

his chief steward, to visit his estate near Moscow, and to

receive many people who formerly did not even wish to know of his

existence but would now have been offended and grieved had he

chosen not to see them. These different people-businessmen,

relations, and acquaintances alike-were all disposed to treat the

young heir in the most friendly and flattering manner: they were

all evidently firmly convinced of Pierre's noble qualities.