This was Metrov.
The conversation touched for a brief space on politics and on how recent events were looked at in the higher spheres in Petersburg.
Metrov repeated a saying that had reached him through a most trustworthy source, reported as having been uttered on this subject by the Tsar and one of the ministers.
Katavasov had heard also on excellent authority that the Tsar had said something quite different.
Levin tried to imagine circumstances in which both sayings might have been uttered, and the conversation on that topic dropped.