Pierre BOOK XX

In which Pierre renews acquaintance with his youth companion Charles Millthorpe, a well-born yet impecunious young man who has forsaken rural toil for intellectual and philosophical pursuits within the modest confines of the Apostles’ chambers. Charles, buoyed by ambition and a genial egotism, endeavours to uplift himself and his family through a mix of law, transcendental philosophy, and oratory, whilst exhibiting a curious blend of idealism and practical kindness towards Pierre’s impoverished state.