: A handsome engineer is losing a lot. The girl in love with him gets the player money, but, having felt his pettyness, runs away into the night and dies of a fever. The rich man who loved her more than his life drinks poison.
A young engineer, handsome Alarin is going home. With him in a compartment - a plain-looking girl and a Caucasian. After some time, the Caucasian begins to brazenly pester her. Alarin stands up for the girl. An engineer grabs a Caucasian by the scruff of his neck and throws him out of the train at the bus stop. Alarin involuntarily admires his "frantic temper." The girl, smiling, thanks her savior. "This smile lit up and made her face extremely pretty."
They get to know each other. The girl’s name is Zinaida Pavlovna, after going to college she goes to work as a governess to the daughter of the breeder Kashperov, a rich widower. He lives in the same city as Alarin. The engineer knows the industrialist, tells a little about him: “Kashperov himself is certainly honest and handsome, so the ladies still run after him: imagine gray hair and a black beard ... he doesn’t hide his money and does a lot of good for them” .
Waking up in the morning already in Kashperov’s house, Zinaida Pavlovna recalls Alarin. In her dreams, she dreams of a happy life with him, thinks how she would surround her beloved with cares.
At breakfast, the governess meets Kashperov. “He looked about forty-five years old, but if he put on his hat and hid his gray hair, no one would give him more than thirty-five to six years. However, his prominent appearance did not appeal to Zinaida Pavlovna; her gentle, painful taste was unpleasant in a man with a predominance of brute strength and health. ”
He introduces the governess to her daughter, a wild girl of fourteen. She immediately takes Zinaida Pavlovna. From the girl the governess learns that her mother did not die, but left. The girl immediately mentally accuses the breeder of this, the unpleasant impression intensifies.
Kashperov notices her hostility, he now speaks with the governess formally politely, the rest of the time he does not remember her existence.
One evening he accidentally hears Zinaida Pavlovna performing passages from the Faust to her pupil. Kasperov is struck by her gorgeous silver voice. The intonations and the depth of the feeling embedded in the music suggest that she has her own Faust, and he does not give hope for reciprocity.
The next time, listening to the song outside the door, the breeder gives himself out. Zinaida Pavlovna immediately stops singing and leaves, despite the man's attempts to eliminate the misunderstandings between them.
Kashperov falls in love. “Before him stood a gentle image of a pale girl, with blue transparent eyes and a captivating voice, and he did not know how to approach him ...”
Zinaida Pavlovna goes with Kashperov and his daughter to the ball. She is happy for the pupil: the girl is constantly invited to dance. Alarin suddenly approaches her.He eagerly talks about gambling. The girl in horror asks to forget about these terrible hobbies. An engineer invites her to a dance. Zinaida Pavlovna is happy. After they talk, and the girl talks about Kashperov: she completely does not understand his behavior. Only the pupil holds Zinaida Pavlovna. Alarin advises her to leave as soon as possible. Kashperov appears and realizes that he is talking about him. The breeder has already taken his daughter, now he is waiting for the governess.
On the way home, he rushes at the girl with kisses and hugs. Kashperov threatens, promises money and fame, if only she would not push him away. At home, only the appearance of her daughter makes the breeder stop.
Alarin loses a huge amount of government money that evening. He tries to take them from the moneylender, but he, guessing what happened, refuses. On the street Zinaida Pavlovna approaches him. The engineer annoyingly voices the reason for his depression: he will be declared a thief, he is disgraced. He speaks rudely to the girl and leaves.
Zinaida Pavlovna decides to sacrifice herself for his salvation and asks Kashperov for the necessary amount, offering himself in return. At first, the breeder wants revenge on her. Talking in a harsh manner, he gives her money. The governess falls to her knees and kisses his hand. Kashperov feels unbearable shame for his behavior. He guesses why the girl needs money: "You are a saint, this is a great feat that a woman has ever decided on." Both "for the first time boldly and amiably looked into each other's eyes."
Alarin then puts a revolver to his temple, then lowers it.The engineer understands that he is breaking the comedy: in fact, he frantically clings to life. Zinaida Pavlovna appears and holds out the money. Feeling that he was saved, Alarin looks at them with an eager and brutal look: everything in life has depreciated, except for this pack. The governess watches him in horror. Contempt arises in her soul, destroying the love of "her idol."
She walks home unconscious. On the threshold, the girl falls into Kashperov’s hands, wet and trembling. “Only at this terrible moment, feeling the touch of her cold cheek on her neck, did Kasperov understand that this girl was more precious to him than her own life, more expensive than the life of her beloved daughter.” The doctor makes no guarantees that Zinaida Pavlovna will survive.
Haggard and gray-haired Alarin rides on the train. He learns from the newspaper that Kashperov drank hydrocyanic acid. Alarin does not read further: he knows the reason for the suicide.
