I identify with the Count a little bit. I do not want to turn this into a political discussion. So let just say this: I live in my native country. I love it. I do not want to leave it. Yet, it may well be turning into a place where I disagree entirely with its government and the majority of its people. I will not leave no matter what. I hope I will always feel this way. I believe that is the way the Count feels about Russia. At the end of the story he is 60. I expect he just could not adapt to never going home again. To go to his hometown and live out the rest of his days with the woman he loves is a happy ending for him even though we westerners cannot quite understand it as a choice we would make.
Note that there are others who see that even though it ends with the Count in his hometown, they believe it's just a jumping off point for him to eventually meet up with his daughter again. He says something to her about meeting up with her eventually. You may want to choose this interpretation.
Note that there are others who see that even though it ends with the Count in his hometown, they believe it's just a jumping off point for him to eventually meet up with his daughter again. He says something to her about meeting up with her eventually. You may want to choose this interpretation.