Yesterday I wore luxurious dresses; today — mourning. Yesterday I shone at court; today I’m a mother of four little ones, driven away by everyone, and with horror I look at my debt papers. Yesterday people admired me; today they’re poisoning me, and my fate and the children’s fate are sealed. Today I’m a poor wretch who endures dirty rumors without resistance, desperately in love with her late husband. But just yesterday I was the one who once rose from hopelessness—and I don’t like debts, or gossip, or husbands, or lying suitors, or snakes in rustling dresses. And you, gentlemen, will be surprised by the change in the character of a timid little bird. A mature, smart, calculating heroine in the body of a multi-child violet—yet in debt and in silk. Burnt bits from French buns, an alternative Russia, friends and enemies, magic, everyday life, progress-making, and an investigation.