six o’clock in
the morning
There were two circumstances a little unpleasant , but these two circumstances were drowned in the sea of good-humored gaiety which flooded the soul of Stepan Arkadyevitch . These two circumstances were : first , that on meeting Alexey Alexandrovitch the day before in the street he had noticed that he was cold and reserved with him , and putting the expression of Alexey Alexandrovitch 's face and the fact that he had not come to see them or let them know of his arrival with the rumors he had heard about Anna and Vronsky , Stepan Arkadyevitch guessed that something was wrong between the husband and wife . That was one disagreeable thing . The other slightly disagreeable fact was that the new head of his department , like all new heads , had the reputation already of a terrible person , who got up at six o'clock in the morning , worked like a horse , and insisted on his subordinates working in the same way . Moreover , this new head had the further reputation of being a bear in his manners , and was , according to all reports , a man of a class in all respects the opposite of that to which his predecessor had belonged , and to which Stepan Arkadyevitch had hitherto belonged himself . On the previous day Stepan Arkadyevitch had appeared at the office in a uniform , and the new chief had been very affable and had talked to him as to an acquaintance . Consequently Stepan Arkadyevitch deemed it his duty to call upon him in his non-official dress .