I have two anecdotes to tell about that.
IV On one occasion, just at the time when the first rumours of the emancipation of the serfs were in the air, when all Russia was exulting and making ready for a complete regeneration, Varvara Petrovna was visited by a baron from Petersburg, a man of the highest connections, and very closely associated with the new reform.

Varvara Petrovna prized such visits highly, as her connections in higher circles had grown weaker and weaker since the death of her husband, and had at last ceased altogether.

The baron spent an hour drinking tea with her.

There was no one else present but Stepan Trofimovitch, whom Varvara Petrovna invited and exhibited.

The baron had heard something about him before or affected to have done so, but paid little attention to him at tea.
Stepan Trofimovitch of course was incapable of making a social blunder, and his manners were most elegant.