Book 2 Chapter 27 The State Church and the People

The last thing that kept Nekhludoff in Petersburg was the case of
the sectarians, whose petition he intended to get his former
fellow-officer, Aide-de-camp Bogatyreff, to hand to the Tsar. He
came to Bogatyreff in the morning, and found him about to go out,
though still at breakfast. Bogatyreff was not tall, but firmly
built and wonderfully strong (he could bend a horseshoe), a kind,
honest, straight, and even liberal man. In spite of these
qualities, he was intimate at Court, and very fond of the Tsar
and his family, and by some strange method he managed, while
living in that highest circle, to see nothing but the good in it
and to take no part in the evil and corruption. He never
condemned anybody nor any measure, and either kept silent or
spoke in a bold, loud voice, almost shouting what he had to say,
and often laughing in the same boisterous manner. And he did not
do it for diplomatic reasons, but because such was his character.

"Ah, that's right that you have come. Would you like some
breakfast? Sit down, the beefsteaks are fine! I always begin with
something substantial--begin and finish, too. Ha! ha! ha! Well,
then, have a glass of wine," he shouted, pointing to a decanter
of claret. "I have been thinking of you. I will hand on the
petition. I shall put it into his own hands. You may count on
that, only it occurred to me that it would be best for you to
call on Toporoff."

Nekhludoff made a wry face at the mention of Toporoff.