Alix is a woman of 27 looking for the only thing she is incapable of: love.

Laurent comes to visit his father not far from Bethune. But his father, who lives a hermit's life deep in the woods, has only one thing on his mind : to do away with his six children in order to relieve them of the miseries of life. Welcomed at the Caboche farm where his brother Frederic works (Frederic advises him not to try to see their father), Laurent is delighted to see hardy 81 year old Alfred again. The gods are not far off, and, despite all, the pleasures of existence too.

Théophile spends his holidays in Italy, in the Marche hills, and enjoys the freedom he finds at his grandfather’s. The latter, who lives a reclusive life, becomes seriously ill and the child calls for a doctor, William Stein, who had saved the old man’s life seven years ago. Stein sends his best nurse along… who is absolutely free to do as she pleases.