At dinner the talk turned on the latest political news: Napoleon’s seizure of the Duke of Oldenburg’s territory, and the Russian Note, hostile to Napoleon, which had been sent to all the European courts.

“Bonaparte treats Europe as a pirate does a captured vessel,” said Count Rostopchín, repeating a phrase he had uttered several times before. “One only wonders at the long-suffering or blindness of the crowned heads. Now the Pope’s turn has come and Bonaparte doesn’t scruple to depose the head of the Catholic Church⁠—yet all keep silent! Our sovereign alone has protested against the seizure of the Duke of Oldenburg’s territory, and even⁠ ⁠…” Count Rostopchín paused, feeling that he had reached the limit beyond which censure was impossible.

“Other territories have been offered in exchange for the Duchy of Oldenburg,” said Prince Nikoláy Andréevich. “He shifts the Dukes about as I might move my serfs from Bald Hills to Boguchárovo or my Ryazán estates.”

“The Duke of Oldenburg bears his misfortunes with admirable strength of character and resignation,” remarked Borís, joining in respectfully.