Igor Alexeyevich Tramanov awoke in a good mood on the February 17th 1861. Today he would be taking part in another of the many rallies that had become ever more popular since the death of old Czar Nicholas. Igor was head of his small family: one wife, one daughter and himself. He had not wanted to marry the woman that he was with, but it was the wish of Igor's landlord, and that was law. One of Igor's main reasons for joining what was becoming known as the Rostovsteff movement was that he didn't want his daughter to have to live the same life that he and his family for generations before him had just because she was born into her position in society.

"The landlords," he thought, "complained to us and beat us when we are not 'productive enough, yet never allow us to invest in more productive...