The good people of a small community in the countryside near Copenhagen enjoy life and find their way to love.

The owner of Rønneby Kro, Bartholdi, is writing his memoirs. When this comes to the ears of prominent citizens, they rush to Rønneby Kro to have the publication stopped. However, Bartholdi is neither a stickler nor a hack. They get help from a lawyer, who only has success when he goes through Bartholdi's grandson.

In England, a famous jewel collection is stolen. The police suspect that the jewels have been smuggled to Sweden, and in Stockholm, the young insurance detective Peter Holmer is commissioned to trace the stolen jewels. The tracks first lead Peter to a certain ballet master Lando, but when he comes to Lando's flat, he finds him murdered. Before the police were summoned, Peter saw a young lady smearing from the floor. He tries to catch her, but when he gets down the street she disappears in a taxi..

On the indebted estate, Gyldenstrup, lives a spoiled and selfish lady, Mrs. Selstrup, with her two spoiled and selfish children, Ellen and Joachim. Her husband has recently died, and the widow completely forgets her grief when lawyer Hansen confides in her that they are in fact very poor. Spoiled and selfish as she is, it seems to her like a disaster that she and her two hopeful offspring may end up living in poorer conditions.