The guests at Anna Pavlovna's event are leaving. The horse carriages and coats are readied by the footmen. Two of the main characters, Prince Andrei Bolkonsky and Pierre Bezukhov enjoy briefly interacting with one another. They are two of the great characters of literature and throughout the novel, they are not together all that often, so these moments are quite special.

Tolstoy give a physical description of Pierre: uncommonly tall, stout and large reddish hands. Whenever entering or leaving a room, he does so clumsily. At the party, instead of his own hat, he grabs the three-cornered hat of a General. He has a huge heart to go along with his frame. A level of favor follows him, like many a Bible character with a pure essence. Tolstoy was heavily influenced by Scripture.

Prince Andrei has no interest in conversing with the society crowd - but he has a warm affinity towards Pierre and looks forward to conversing with him after the soirée.

The scene shifts to Andrei's study, where Pierre picks out Caesar's Commentaries. This is likely a reference to the novels anti-hero, Napoleon, being among the truly great Generals. Tolstoy condemns War with uncanny ability, but Napoleon's reputation puts him among the legends.

Pierre relays he is undecided on his path in life - he father has given him two choices, to enter the Army (Calvary Division) or the Diplomatic Service. Neither are appealing. We receive background that Pierre was sent away at age 10 with a tutor to see the Great cities of Europe. At 20 he returned to Moscow and his father sent him to St. Petersburg. Pierre knows one thing above all - he has no inclination to join England and Austria against the Greatest Man in the World (Napoleon). He then turns the conversation on Andrei and asks why, with such a good situation in St. Petersburg, Andrei is venturing to War. Andrei responds that his current life is not the one he was looking for. He strives for something more.