Is such a thing even possible in the Russian Empire: a descendant of an old noble family, Mikhail Iverznev, fell in love with the serf peasant girl Ustinya—property of his best friend Nikita Zakatov! And she not only refused him decisively, remaining faithful to her fiancé, but also turned out to be a runaway involved in a crime: this very fiancé, along with his brother, while defending her, killed the estate manager. And poor Iverznev would have suffered from unrequited love if not for a new trouble— for spreading a suspicious manuscript among students, he was arrested by gendarmes. Now his rescuer rushes in: the beautiful sister, from whose love Nikita Zakatov is sick with longing, and who meets Nikita on the doorstep of the church, where he has just gotten married. On the other hand…