Now all these men were replaced by Speránski on the civil side, and Arakchéev on the military. Soon after his arrival Prince Andréy, as a gentleman of the chamber, presented himself at court and at a levee. The Emperor, though he met him twice, did not favor him with a single word. It had always seemed to Prince Andréy before that he was antipathetic to the Emperor and that the latter disliked his face and personality generally, and in the cold, repellent glance the Emperor gave him, he now found further confirmation of this surmise. The courtiers explained the Emperor’s neglect of him by His Majesty’s displeasure at Bolkónski’s not having served since 1805.

“I know myself that one cannot help one’s sympathies and antipathies,” thought Prince Andréy, “so it will not do to present my proposal for the reform of the army regulations to the Emperor personally, but the project will speak for itself.”