War and Peace Volume 1 Book 1 Chapter 21

In which the somber air of a prominent household is thick with the looming shadow of death and the delicate anxieties of inheritance, as kinsfolk debate the validity and whereabouts of a critical will amidst whispered prayers and veiled resentments. The pall of familial strife falls heavily upon those gathered, revealing passions both restrained and fierce in a world where honour and justice seem as fragile as life itself.