This story is told through the eyes of a young woman, Lara. It is the story of Count Nikolai Diakonov, a white Russian, passionately loyal to the Tsar. In 1900, the Count lives not in his beloved country, but as an exile in Paris. Tsar Nicholas has been convinced that the Count is not loyal, but a traitor. Angry and deeply miserable, Count Diakonov sets out on a railway journey to visit a relative in Northern France. On the way, he encounters the revolutionary son of an old friend. This man is seeking the Count because he, too, has been the victim of related Russian intrique. What follows solves the mystery of Diakonov's exile, and changes his attitude to Russia. Through the story, Rebecca West also tells the story of the passing of old Russia and the birth of the USSR.