Bilibin was a man of thirty-five, a bachelor, and of the same circle as Prince Andrew.

They had known each other previously in Petersburg, but had become more intimate when Prince Andrew was in Vienna with Kutuzov.

Just as Prince Andrew was a young man who gave promise of rising high in the military profession, so to an even greater extent Bilibin gave promise of rising in his diplomatic career.

He still a young man but no longer a young diplomat, as he had entered the service at the age of sixteen, had been in Paris and Copenhagen, and now held a rather important post in Vienna.

Both the foreign minister and our ambassador in Vienna knew him and valued him.