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CHAPTER III

On that third of March, all the rooms in the English Club were

filled with a hum of conversation, like the hum of bees swarming

in springtime. The members and guests of the club wandered hither

and thither, sat, stood, met, and separated, some in uniform and

some in evening dress, and a few here and there with powdered

hair and in Russian kaftans. Powdered footmen, in livery with

buckled shoes and smart stockings, stood at every door anxiously

noting visitors' every movement in order to offer their services.

Most of those present were elderly, respected men with broad,

self-confident faces, fat fingers, and resolute gestures and

voices. This class of guests and members sat in certain habitual

places and met in certain habitual groups. A minority of those

present were casual guests-chiefly young men, among whom were

Denisov, Rostov, and Dolokhov-who was now again an officer in the

Semenov regiment.