The action moves from St. Petersburg to Moscow, to the mansion of the Rostovs, who will be followed throughout the novel.

Count Rostov, a pleasant sort, is welcoming guests and inviting them to partake in a grand dinner. He delights in calling everyone, regardless of social rank, "my dear."

So far, it is party after party in the first few chapters - the "Peace" in War & Peace - but the talk at the high society event turns to the threat of war.

Leading the discussion is Princess Anna Drubetskaya, a relation of the Rostovs. Her son Boris, who she got into the Imperial Guard through working her old connections, grew up, for long periods, within the Rostov household. Boris is a teenager - somewhere around 16-18 (though there are inconsistencies with the ages). The women are talking about more local matters; namely that Pierre's father, the elderly Count Kirill Bezukhov is very ill and a special doctor has been called. He is thought to be on death's door. There is curiosity on what will become of Kirill's vast estate -- millions of acres and rubles along with 40,000 serfs.

Count Kirill has no legitimate children and we find out that Vassily Kuragin is in-line to inherit through the Vassily's wife. However, there is talk of how the Count favors his illegitimate son Pierre, always taking special care of him, including how thoughtfully he directed Pierre's education. The women delight in such chatter.

The conversation turns to the "Talk of the Town," what Dolokhov and the gang did with the bear after leaving Anatole’s House in a drunken stupor.It seems the group was spotted by a local police officer, who tried to calm the men down. This was a bad idea as the group tied one end of the bear's chain to the officer and threw them both in the river! 

It led to Dolokhov being demoted in the Imperial Army and Pierre and Anatole being asked to leave St. Petersburg for a spell. The crowd certainly gets a kick out it, with the host, Count Rostov imagining, how silly the officer looked swimming with a bear on his back.