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At the appointed hour the prince, powdered and shaven, entered

the dining room where his daughter-in-law, Princess Mary, and

Mademoiselle Bourienne were already awaiting him together with

his architect, who by a strange caprice of his employer's was

admitted to table though the position of that insignificant

individual was such as could certainly not have caused him to

expect that honor. The prince, who generally kept very strictly

to social distinctions and rarely admitted even important

government officials to his table, had unexpectedly selected

Michael Ivanovich (who always went into a corner to blow his nose

on his checked handkerchief) to illustrate the theory that all

men are equals, and had more than once impressed on his daughter

that Michael Ivanovich was "not a whit worse than you or I." At

dinner the prince usually spoke to the taciturn Michael Ivanovich

more often than to anyone else.