Tsehhov daam koeraga Chekov Lady and the Lapdog
Yet, when he turned the card over, the "queen of spades screwed up her eyes and grinned.
At one point Pushkin confides to the reader that "the Countess had by no means a bad heart." Trusting Pushkin, I would like to suggest that
Germann was ruined not because of the Countess's ill will but rather in spite of her goodwill. During her nocturnal visit, the Countess made it
clear that she came to Germann against her will ("ia prishla k tebe protiv svoei voli"). She also reveals the three cards to him against her will:
"mne veleno ispolnit' tvoiu pros'bu." In both cases the Countess seems to act on behalf of some other involved party. But then comes the
unexpected move: "I willforgive you my death, under the condition that you marry my ward, Lizaveta Ivanovna. "49
annaabi.ee 
