His first morning visit he intended to pay to his Excellency the Governor-General of Smolensk. On his road to the house of the Lord-Lieutenant, many a thought crossed his mind. The fair blondine kept continually turning about in his head; his fancy for her even began to roam, so much so that he could at last not help smiling at it himself. In such a pleasant disposition he arrived at the house of the Governor-General. He was on the point of taking off his over-coat in the hall, when the porter surprised him with the following unexpected information.
"I have orders not to receive you, Sir."
"What, how, surely you don't recognise me again. You had better look me well in the face," said Tchichikoff to the man.
"How should I not know you again, Sir? It is not the first time I have seen you in this house. But the instructions I have received are very positive indeed; they refer to you alone; all other visitors are to be admitted as before."
"You don't mean that! Why me alone? what for?"
"Such are my orders, and I dare say it must be all right," said the porter, and added finally the words, "yes." After saying this, he remained coolly standing before Tchichikoff, showing no signs of his usual servility to hasten forward and help the guest of his master to take off his over-coat. It seemed, as he looked upon the stranger, that he thought, "Oho! if my master does not wish to receive you any more under his roof, you must have behaved badly, and be an impostor."
"Incomprehensible!" thought Tchichikoff to himself, and went immediately to wait upon his friend the President; but the President became so confused at the sight of our hero, that he could not speak two words intelligibly and uttered such nonsense that both felt at last perfectly ashamed of one another.' As he left the house, Tchichikoff tried to explain to himself, on his road, what the President's words were meant to express, and especially a few insinuations that had dropped in the course of their conversation, however he could explain nothing.
He then went to pay his visits to a few more, to the Commissioner of Police, to the Vice-Governor, to the Postmaster-General, but they either did not receive him, or if they did, at least, all spoke in such a strange manner, and in such incomprehensible terms, and seemed in his opinion at such a loss for anything reasonable to say, that he left them under the impression that they were wrong in their minds. He called upon a few more on his road home, thinking that he would at last be able to find out a real cause for their unwarrantable conduct; however he could not discover any cause whatever.
Like a somnambulist he continued to wander about for some time in the streets of the town, perfectly incapable of deciding, whether it was he or the Imperial employés who had lost their senses.
It was already late in the evening when he returned to his hotel, which he had left in the early day, in such an excellent disposition, to chase away the annoyance he felt, he immediately ordered some tea. Engaged with melancholy reflections on his suddenly changed position vis-à-vis his acquaintance in town, he began to pour out his tea, when the door of his room was suddenly opened, and he beheld Nosdrieff standing unexpectedly before him.