to know that this maiden was nothing else than a representation
of the Song of Songs. And looking at those drawings I dreamed I felt
that I was doing wrong, but could not tear myself away from them. Lord,
help me! My God, if Thy forsaking me is Thy doing, Thy will be done; but
if I am myself the cause, teach me what I should do! I shall perish of
my debauchery if Thou utterly desertest me!

CHAPTER XI

The Rostovs' monetary affairs had not improved during the two years they
had spent in the country.

Though Nicholas Rostov had kept firmly to his resolution and was still
serving modestly in an obscure regiment, spending comparatively little,
the way of life at Otradnoe--Mitenka's management of affairs, in
particular--was such that the debts inevitably increased every year. The
only resource obviously presenting itself to the old count was to apply
for an official post, so he had come to Petersburg to look for one and
also, as he said, to let the lassies enjoy themselves for the last time.

Soon after their arrival in Petersburg Berg proposed to Vera and was
accepted.

Though in Moscow the Rostovs belonged to the best society without
themselves giving it a thought, yet in Petersburg their circle of
acquaintances was a mixed and indefinite one. In Petersburg they were
provincials, and the very people they had entertained in Moscow without
inquiring to what set they belonged, here looked down on them.

The Rostovs lived in the same hospitable way in Petersburg as in Moscow,
and the most diverse people met at their suppers. Country neighbors from
Otradnoe, impoverished old squires and their daughters, Peronskaya a
maid of honor, Pierre Bezukhov, and the son of their district postmaster
who had obtained a post in Petersburg. Among the men who very soon
became frequent visitors at the Rostovs' house in Petersburg were Boris,
Pierre whom the count had met in the street and dragged home with
him, and Berg who spent whole days at the Rostovs' and paid the eldest
daughter, Countess Vera, the attentions a young man pays when he intends
to propose.

Not in vain had Berg shown everybody his right hand wounded at
Austerlitz and held a perfectly unnecessary sword in his left. He
narrated that episode so persistently and with so important an air that
everyone believed in the merit and usefulness of his deed, and he had
obtained two decorations for Austerlitz.

In the Finnish war he also managed to distinguish himself