Korol', dama, valet

Pozhiloy bogatyy kommersant Kurt Drayer iskrenne vlyublen v svoyu zhenu Martu, yunuyu krasavitsu s sereznym litsom i holodnym vzglyadom. On absolyutno uveren, chto ta otvechaet emu vzaimnostyu, no na samom dele Martu interesuyut lish ego dengi. Vozvraschayas s zhenoy iz Tirolya v rodnoy Berlin, Drayer zaezzhaet k svoey kuzine i obeschaet "pristroit" eyo syna Frantsa. V Berline on vsyacheski staraetsya byt zabotlivym i otzyvchivym "dyadyushkoy". V to zhe vremya nebogatyy provintsialnyy yunosha nemedlenno vlyublyaetsya v roskoshnuyu Martu, a ta reshaet ispolzovat ego dlya dostizheniya svoih tseley. Sleduya klassicheskoy fabule bulvarnogo lyubovnogo romana, Nabokov sozdaet slozhnoe psihologicheskoe, sotsialnoe i filosofskoe proizvedenie.