A Gentleman in Moscow

Nina convinces the Count to go to the ballroom balcony to spy on a Bolshevik assembly, despite the Count’s objections—his height makes their hiding uncomfortable, and the last time he did it, he split the seat of his pants. The Count also is reluctant to watch another Bolshevik assembly, “not because he found the ideological leanings of the attendees distasteful” (66), but rather because he “found political discourse of any persuasion to be tedious” (66).

The Count splits his pants again as he and Nina crouch in the balcony. He ponders how, though there are superficial changes, the goings-on in the ballroom are no different now than they had been before the war: young Bolsheviks show deference for an “old revolutionary” (67) who sits in the Grand Duchess’s chair, and attendees flit about the room attempting to impress their peers.

Railroad union members discuss altering a word in their charter. The conversation sparks heated argument, finally culminating in a raucous confrontation. The Count decides that “political discourse wasn’t always so dull, after all” (69).

Once outside, the Count is about to relate to Nina his findings on the similarities between the past and present and on the “Shakespearean” (70) nature of the assembly when Nina comments how “astounding” (70) it is to consider all that must happen for them to travel by railroad.