The Queen of Spades is an 1834 novella by Alexander Pushkin about a young officer, Hermann, who becomes obsessed with a secret to winning at cards, which he believes an old countess holds. He seduces her ward to gain access, but the countess dies before revealing the secret, and Hermann is driven to madness by the ghost of the countess, ultimately losing everything in a final, fateful game where he mistakes the Queen of Spades for the winning card.