Read "A Gentleman in Moscow" by Amor Towles online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
Never had the chime of twelve been so welcome. Not in Russia. Not in Europe. Not in all the world. Had Romeo been told by Juliet that she would appear at her window at noon, the young Veronan's rapture at the appointed hour could not have matched the Count's. Had Dr. Stahlbaum's children-Fritz and Clara-been told on Christmas morning that the drawing-room doors would be opened at midday, their elation could not have rivaled the Count's upon the sounding of the first toll.
For having successfully fended off thoughts of Tverskaya Street (and chance encounters with young ladies of fashion), having bathed, dressed, and finished his coffee and fruit (today a fig), shortly after ten the Count had eagerly taken up Montaigne's masterpiece only to discover that at every fifteenth line, his gaze was drifting toward the clock.