1826. Countess Vera Chernysheva learned from her own experience what it was like to fall from the heights of prosperity into complete uncertainty, because after the uprising on Senate Square, her brother was arrested, and then all the family’s property was seized. It seems that the Chernyshevs are crushed, but this is not enough for the mysterious enemies: someone is trying to blow up Vera’s crew. But she was not attacked - she lacked neither courage nor business acumen. On her grandmother's ruined estate, Vera manages to successfully earn money and support her family. But danger is on her heels, and in quiet Polesie someone is again attempting to kill her. Prince Gorchakov, in love with Vera, is ready to do anything just to protect her. But where to look for enemies? The district police officer Shcheglov comes to their aid. Step by step he moves towards the solution, but the path to it is tortuous, like the secret paths of the Polesie swamps. What will happen next? Who will strike next and when? And only Vera herself knows that faceless evil is hiding in the darkness, and his blue pupils are constantly watching her...