Prince Andrew listened to the account of the opening of the Council of State, which he had so impatiently awaited and to which he had attached such importance, and was surprised that this event, now that it had taken place, did not affect him, and even seemed quite insignificant.
He listened with quiet irony to Bitski's enthusiastic account of it.
A very simple thought occurred to him: "What does it matter to me or to Bitski what the Emperor was pleased to say at the Council? Can all that make me any happier or better?" And this simple reflection suddenly destroyed all the interest Prince Andrew had felt in the impending reforms.