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When he reached the point about the fundamental and radical law,

his opponent jumped up and began to protest. Stremov, who was

also a member of the Commission, and also stung to the quick,

began defending himself, and altogether a stormy sitting

followed; but Alexey Alexandrovitch triumphed, and his motion was

carried, three new commissions were appointed, and the next day

in a certain Petersburg circle nothing else was talked of but

this sitting. Alexey Alexandrovitch's success had been even

greater than he had anticipated.

Next morning, Tuesday, Alexey Alexandrovitch, on waking up,

recollected with pleasure his triumph of the previous day, and he

could not help smiling, though he tried to appear indifferent,

when the chief secretary of his department, anxious to flatter

him, informed him of the rumors that had reached him concerning

what had happened in the Commission.