Pyotr Drozdov, a high-ranking government official from Moscow, is summoned by the local governor to a provincial museum of a half-forgotten classical writer. The governor wants to build himself a new residence on the land that belongs to the museum, and at first Drozdov backs his scheme, but then he meets Masha, a young literary scholar and deputy director of the museum. This meeting changes his outlook - not only on the land dispute, but on his entire life.