He was indeed the person chiefly responsible for the chill benumbing all the guests before Stepan Arkadyevitch came in.

On entering the drawing room Stepan Arkadyevitch apologized, explaining that he had been detained by that prince, who was always the scapegoat for all his absences and unpunctualities, and in one moment he had made all the guests acquainted with each other, and, bringing together Alexey Alexandrovitch and Sergey Koznishev, started them on a discussion of the Russification of Poland, into which they immediately plunged with Pestsov.

Slapping Turovtsin on the shoulder, he whispered something comic in his ear, and set him down by his wife and the old prince.

Then he told Kitty she was looking very pretty that evening, and presented Shtcherbatsky to Karenin.

In a moment he had so kneaded together the social dough that the drawing room became very lively, and there was a merry buzz of voices.