 The man tells her about his many journeys abroad, insisting that he has accomplished alone the things they had said they would do together.He tells her about Russia and how different the society is there.Despite his originally being perhaps poorer and her being better-off (there is a reference to her in the past eating expensive caviar), now the man seems to be prosperous, while the woman has perhaps fared less well, having had, for example, to give up her piano.