Arkady and Varvara meet in a compartment carriage – they have tickets for the very same seat. Arkady is a paediatric surgeon; he is travelling to the capital for a scientific conference. Varvara is returning to her parents’ village after graduating from technical college.
A distraught Varvara announces that she is pregnant and therefore will not give up her seat. The passengers laugh, as they interpret her statement as an excuse to stay in her seat. Her fellow passengers claim her ticket is fake. Offended, Varvara runs into the vestibule, and Arkady follows her.
In the vestibule, a conversation takes place between Varvara and Arkady. He learns her story and is convinced that she is not lying. She is indeed two months pregnant. Varvara ‘got pregnant’ by a casual acquaintance after the graduation ball. The doctors have forbidden her from having an abortion. Now she is travelling to her parents, trembling with fear.
Varvara gets off at her station; the train pulls away. Arkady watches her go, then grabs his bag and jumps off the moving train.

Thus begins a story of nobility and devotion, which will prove stronger than betrayal.