The novel, which takes place in 1845–1855, begins with the return of Prince Sergei Myatlev and storyteller Amiran Amilahvari after a duel (which ended in nothing) in the Prince’s spacious St. Petersburg house, filled with copies from ancient masterpieces. The living room has been turned into a fencing hall, the card tables have been demolished into one room, and the living quarters are boarded up, except for the third floor, where the prince is located. The son of the adjutant general, he belongs to the elite of his time, but, despite this, is not liked by the sovereign. Having entered the cavalry-guard regiment after the Page Corps, he was soon sent for an innocent prank in the Life Guards Grodno Hussar Regiment, and then, after distinguishing himself in the Caucasus and the death of the old prince, he returned to Petersburg, where he retired and kept a portrait of a state criminal at home Muravyova, leads an idle life, in conversations with Amilakhvari and the “lame-foot” - a descriptor of family trees Andrei Vladimirovich Priimkov, deported from the capital for his anti-patriotic work, exposing the immorality of Russian history. It seems to Myatlev that he is in love with the cold-blooded Aneta, the wife of Baron Fredericks, but their romance is short-lived: she leaves the prince for the sake of the emperor. But the baron will soon become Myatlevsky chief. At the same time, Myatlev met in his park with an eight-year-old child who called himself Mr. van Schonhoven. He will constantly appear in Myatlevsky park, and then in the house itself, where he will begin to drink teas and talk with his master. In fact, this is the disguised Lavinia Tuchkova (Bravura - that was the name of her father, but the general who adopted the girl gave her his last name), who falls in love with the prince for life. But their romance is destined to come true not soon. The prince is still young, and on Nevsky, in the rain, he meets the twenty-two-year-old Alexandrina Zhiltsova, the daughter of a Decembrist (who became such “by imprudence”), who came to Petersburg to pray for her father languishing in the mines. Her petition was refused, and, despite the free life in Myatlev’s house, consumption consumes her strength, and Alexandrina rushes (seemingly) to the Neva (later, during her journey, Myatlev will stop in the garrison, where she seems to have fled to in fact, Alexandrina - but he certainly will not succeed in understanding this). Myatlev remains in the house with a faithful servant Athanasius. The prince, however, quickly begins an affair with Countess Natalie Rumyantseva. She seduces the prince, becomes pregnant from him, and then raises a wave of rumors throughout St. Petersburg - the prince even calls the chief of the gendarmes corps Count Orlov. Meanwhile, the mother extends Lavinia, who lives in Moscow (she is sixteenth year), for the landlord, Mr. Ladimirovsky.
Myatlev rushes to the throne, but meeting with Lavinia and meeting her mother end in nothing. But on his return to the northern capital, the prince is forced to arrange a wedding with Natalie who became pregnant (seemingly from him) at the end of October. The bride embarks on a decisive remake of her beloved princely house. The prince is even forced to enlist in the office of Count Nesselrode. Returning from the latter, Myatlev comes into the shop of Sverbeev, where he meets a certain Mr. Kolesnikov, preaching for some reason quite seditious ideas - a revolution in Europe, etc. After that, his life takes on an almost mystical character: there is someone Timothy Katakazi, pulling from the prince information about the cities. Priimkov and Kolesnikov. The emperor personally joins the hands of Natalie and the prince - there is nowhere to go, Myatlev marries, but the influencer takes the life of a young wife and baby. Having recovered from shock, Myatlev sits down for memoirs about the lost poet-friend, Mr. Lermontov. "After reading what was written, he suddenly realized that he was writing not so much about the murdered comrade, as he was settling personal accounts with the tsar." However, having met Mr. Kolesnikov by chance, the prince for some reason decided to show him his manuscript. The writer is terrified. But the prince, tormented by the blues and an obscure desire for Lavinia, decides to visit her mother - supposedly to buy a portrait of Prince Sapieha, in fact - in order to scout a house plan and try to steal Lavinia one day. Ms. Tuchkova nevertheless turns out to be more insightful of the prince and, in a complete allegory of conversation, indicates to him the impracticability of such intentions. He, however, begins to experience a burning longing for Lavinia. Finally, she herself arrives in St. Petersburg (walked 1850) and personally visits the prince in his house!
There is a decisive explanation, during which Lavinia asks the prince simply to remain patient, and then happiness will overtake them by itself. Here, the former Mr. van Schonhoven admits that two poetic lines (long ago become the leitmotif of the whole novel): “Do you remember the mournful sounds of pipes, / Splashes of rain, half light, half light?” - taken from Nekrasov.
But the lovers' attempt to talk at the October ball in the Anichkov Palace ends in failure: the husband does not lag behind Lavinia, the emperor himself shows an increased (but unsuccessful) interest in the young beauty, some horse guerrilla speaks unflattering about her (that’s the reason for the duel with which he begins romance) ... Only a meeting with Aneta brings joy: she takes up the arrangement of their dates at home. But Lavinia for some reason admits to her husband in her connection, and he takes her to the village. Returning to Petersburg in the spring, Ladimirovsky nonetheless loses his wife: on May 5 she escapes with the prince, after which the Myatlev’s family house collapses on its own. Nicholas orders to capture the fugitives, for which they are equipped with a pursuit in all possible directions. Lovers flee to Moscow. On the way, they meet the dear landowner Ivan Evdokimovich, who has been detained for a long time and who was also somehow connected with the events of December 14th. Only on the day of departure does it become clear that this is Avrosimov (see the novel “Poor Avrosimov”).
Through Moscow and Tula, the fugitives set off towards Pyatigorsk, but an unexpected meeting with a friendly colonel von Myuffling (who is actually tasked with detaining the lovers, but who really love the lovers) forces them to turn to Tiflis, to Amiran’s relatives. Following, attracted by intuition, is the colonel, but the hospitable Georgians convince him not to do anything against a happy couple. Von Mufling makes a promise - but then, unfortunately, Timothy Katakazi appears, who detains Lavinia with the prince. They are forwarded to Petersburg: the prince to the fortress, Lavinia to his legal spouse. The latter hopes to restore family relations, but to no avail. Although the prince is being deprived of his title, fortune and sent to indefinite privates in the Caucasus, Lavinia still loves him. The torment of the soldiers is intensified because they have to endure in the very garrison, where the lovers regained strength during their journey and where, apparently, Alexandrina ended her days. After the prince’s wound, Lavinia again abandons her husband and, under a false name, enters the Sisters of Mercy to be with her beloved, but she is again returned to the capital under escort. After some time, Amiran (already married to Margo, a friend of Lavinia) receives a letter from her, where she announces her desire to reconcile with her husband and leave with him for Italy. Soon, Nikolai dies, and the desperate prince was already receiving a complete pardon. He settles on his estate in the Kostroma province, where, under the guise of a housekeeper, Lavinia, exhausted by this life, comes. Their happiness did not last long: trying to open a hospital for the peasants, and then a school, the prince dies. The letters published in the epilogue shed light on some of the details of this story. So, the sudden departure of Lavinia to Italy was caused by a letter from Elizabeth, Myatlev’s sister, where she declared the unfortunate cause of all the prince’s troubles.
