Chekhov chooses to depict these two people meeting each other but not much more because it places an emphasis on how someone can encounter a change so small in their life but can affect it greatly. In Gurov’s perspective, he usually goes around dispising women and calling them “the lower race” and disrespecting everything about them. However, once he meets Anna Sergeyevna, everything changes for him. He limits his story to represent the huge amount of change one person can make in another’s life. Gurov has gone throughout his life shaming women’s actions and living his life with a dull perspective using women for momentary bliss. However, the one moment where he met Anna changes his life, his thoughts, and influences his future actions. At the end of the story, Chekhov expands on Gurov’s view on life, adding on to the impact Anna had on his life. He questions the cruel world for bringing someone he truly loved at the worst time. Although they bring hardship and grey hair, Gurov and Anna have a moment to reflect on their current relationship, one that actually makes them happy.
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After reading your comment, you also made me realize that this woman, Anna Sergeyevna, had such a huge impact on Gurov’s misogynous view of life that he probably could not digest how different she was from his other encounters. The limitations were probably because of his own hesitations on going further in their encounter in fear of what might happen from then on since they were both married couples. In a literary stance, it might also be to depict how a mere encounter can drive one’s actions so far.