In which Dolly Oblonskaya retreats to the countryside with her children to economise and seek respite from the trials of city life, only to find the old lodge in disrepair and the rural household plagued by a series of vexing difficulties that test her patience and resolve. Yet through the steadfast efforts of the unassuming Marya Philimonovna and the small, everyday triumphs in tending to her children, Dolly begins to glimpse the quiet joys and simple comforts that make her burdens bearable.