Ilya was never a faithful husband, but Nastya forgave him every time—she knew he loved her and would never abandon the children. Yet his affair with Margitka, a friend of their daughter, was like an illness. Nastya didn’t try to hold him back—it was hardly possible anyway; it was as if Ilya had lost his mind. Nastya is still beautiful, and men are still interested in her. Prince Sbezhnyev again, like in his youth, made her a proposal. Then she refused and ran away with Ilya.
Maybe now it’s time to agree, to forget about poverty and the hard life in the camp? Nobody doubts that she will become a princess. Nobody except Nastya herself.