Page 1558 - war-and-peace

her that it was only a personal struggle between ‘Granddad’
and ‘Long-coat’ as she termed Bennigsen. She saw that they
grew spiteful when they spoke to one another, and in her
heart she sided with ‘Granddad.’ In the midst of the con-
versation she noticed ‘Granddad’ give Bennigsen a quick,
subtle glance, and then to her joys he saw that ‘Granddad’
said something to ‘Long-coat’ which settled him. Bennig-
sen suddenly reddened and paced angrily up and down the
room. What so affected him was Kutuzov’s calm and quiet
comment on the advantage or disadvantage of Bennigsen’s
proposal to move troops by night from the right to the left
flank to attack the French right wing.
‘Gentlemen,’ said Kutuzov, ‘I cannot approve of the
count’s plan. Moving troops in close proximity to an en-
emy is always dangerous, and military history supports that
view. For instance...’ Kutuzov seemed to reflect, searching
for an example, then with a clear, naive look at Bennigsen he
added: ‘Oh yes; take the battle of Friedland, which I think
the count well remembers, and which was... not fully suc-
cessful, only because our troops were rearranged too near
the enemy..’
There followed a momentary pause, which seemed very
long to them all.
The discussion recommenced, but pauses frequently oc-
curred and they all felt that there was no more to be said.
During one of these pauses Kutuzov heaved a deep sigh
as if preparing to speak. They all looked at him.
‘Well, gentlemen, I see that it is I who will have to pay for
the broken crockery,’ said he, and rising slowly he moved to

1558 War and Peace