Did Army Major Ivan Tauberg, who was known among his friends as a model of equanimity and integrity, think that Fate would decide to play a trick on him, and at the card table he would win not only a fortune; but also someone else's wife. The magnificent princess Golitsyna, like a comet, bursts into his house, overnight overturns the established way of life, steals his heart and unwittingly touches the fatal secret of Ivan’s past.