A rich sugar factory manager wants to marry his daughter to an aristocrat, while the young girl is in love with an engineer, employed in a rival company.

King John IV of Cerdania, who knows monarchs are a vanishing race but who plays his royalty role in state council or boudoir to the hilt, is in Paris to sign a treaty, and becomes enmeshed in intrigue with an actress, Therese Mannix and involved in a bit of cuckoldry with YouYou Bourdier, the ex-seamstress wife of a French senator, who is un-awed by money, power or the King's kisses. For his part, her husband, Senator Bourdier, is glad to use his wealth, wife and collectivist ideals for social position, in spite of his democratic posing.

Banker Jules Taffard, a true financier, is a shrewd money-handler. Imprisoned for an alleged swindle, his trial seems to be upsetting those in the government, who may not be so far removed from Taffard's affairs (Affaire Alexandre Stavisky). He escapes from La Santé prison without any difficulty, and the authorities don't seem to be doing anything to find him... Under the false name of Gédéon, he becomes a modest handyman in a corset shop run by Madame Génissier, whose morality is as pious as it is legendary. Her son, Hector Génissier, is a foolish young man with no ambition, much to the regret of his young wife, Fernande Génissier. But it won't be long before Gédéon shows his skills in expanding the modest family business. How far can Gédéon's ascent go before Taffard's voice resounds through Gédon?