A Gentleman in Moscow

The night before Sofia leaves for Paris, the Count “sat her down and explained exactly what it was that she must do” (416). She tearfully asks why he only mentions it now; he tells her he was afraid she “would object” (416). The Count asks Sofia to trust him.

The night she leaves, she is prepared to go when she rushes in to inform him the venue of her performance has been changed. The Count goes to the basement for the second Paris guidebook, then removes the map and draws a red line, just as he did in the first book.

In the study, the Count has prepared for a formal dinner, including okroshka, so Sofia can recall this “simple, heartwarming soup from home” (417) if she is homesick. Emile and Andrey are there to serve them. The Count tells Sofia family anecdotes, having reserved the serious subject of “parental advice” (419) for the previous evening, for he wants her last night to be happy so she can remember it.

The Count, uncharacteristically blushing, asks if she would like a picture of him, and he gives her the picture of him and Mishka in their youth that Mishka had left him in his book.