This film could easily be a true story taken from contemporary Denmark. It is a typical Tuesday morning: stormy weather, slush, and bitter cold. Two young women are cycling to work. They make an unpleasant discovery: they find a dead man on a bench in the park.

What might become the greatest challenge for the elderly Brasen couple having opened a summer guest house by the sea? Financial struggle or the sudden influx of demanding residents? Based on Herman Bang's short-story.

Marie Jantzen is in her forties and, thanks to hard work and common sense, the owner of a successful dry cleaning business. Although she is successful and has money in the bank, she feels cheated by life, as she has neither a husband nor children. In an attempt to make amends, she responds to a marriage advertisement and comes into contact with the charming Georg Tingbo, who unfortunately turns out to have a few skeletons in his closet.

At the old Copenhagen Castle, a strange drama is played out in the year 1699 - the last year of King Christian V's life. One winter day, the young Junker Friedrich von Kötschau comes from Hesse to Christian V's court. The old gloomy castle is filled with sadness, where the king's increasing weakness puts a damper on all the joy of life. Friedrich von Kötschau is a handsome young nobleman, and even His Majesty is delighted with his many cheerful inventions. In addition, he has a prescription for gold, and the king gives him permission to experiment in the castle cellar with the old palace pharmacist Paulus.

Consul Bergholtz is ill and will probably die soon. Family members gather at her bedside, each with the expectation of receiving a share of the impending inheritance. Among the heirs are her sons, the alcoholic editor Oscar and the homosexual lecturer Ejnar, as well as their pretty and recently divorced sister Esther. But when her grandson, the cunning and unscrupulous businessman Kurt, shows up, the intrigues are stoked. Kurt couldn't care less about good manners and cultural veneer; he simply takes what he wants.

During the French Revolution, the Lady of Trionville, Alaine, was left sole mistress of the castle; she marries Marquis Erneste de Tressailles, who has taken leave from the Royalist army for a few days.