War and Peace Volume 2 Book 6 Chapter 20

In which the punctilious Colonel Berg and his wife, Véra, prepare with great satisfaction to host a small but select evening party, evidencing their mutual sense of social ambition and the subtle contest of understanding between man and woman. Their gathering unfolds with the customary bustle and polite conversation of Moscow society, revealing the delicate interplay of appearances, etiquette, and unspoken expectations among their guests.