Vienna, a few days before the shots in Sarajevo which would trigger what was first called the Great, later simply the First World War: Job seekers from the crown lands flock to the capital of the empire in search of a better life, even if it's the factory hell . A new social class is growing faster and faster, the city overflows with the poor, lower-class workers and the unemployed. Labor fighters can be heard louder, better, clearer, every day. The nobility strongly suspects its end.

Else is the pretty daughter of a Viennese lawyer. The young lady has been invited by her aunt to spend a few days on a summer holiday in San Martino. There she receives an express letter from her mother requesting her to ask the wealthy art dealer Dorsday for a much-needed loan. Her father is facing bankruptcy due to embezzlement. Else approaches Dorsday and describes the difficult family situation. Dorsday is willing to lend the necessary money, but stipulates that Else must expose herself to him naked for a quarter of an hour. Else reacts indignantly to this request, but over the course of the evening realizes the dilemma she faces. Caught between unconditional loyalty to her father and a strong longing for autonomy and self-determined femininity, she cannot commit to either alternative.