Is he to go up for examination?" "Yes, that's a difficulty, as education is not at all general, but..." Count Kochubey did not finish.

He rose, took Prince Andrew by the arm, and went to meet a tall, bald, fair man of about forty with a large open forehead and a long face of unusual and peculiar whiteness, who was just entering.

The newcomer wore a blue swallow-tail coat with a cross suspended from his neck and a star on his left breast.

It was Speranski.

Prince Andrew recognized him at once, and felt a throb within him, as happens at critical moments of life.