Normandy 1850. A stagecoach drives along a road in the middle of the countryside. Inside, the passengers are all asleep except two men who are talking. Suddenly the coach stops: an axle has just broken. When one of the two men leans out of the window to see what is going on, his gaze lingers on the front a provincial abode, which seems to upset him. He soon starts remembering facts that took place forty years earlier...

Quel brûlant secret cache ce rideau cramoisi? Un vicomte se souvient d’une aventure de jeunesse: alors qu’il loge chez des personnes âgées, la rencontre de la jolie fille des maîtres des lieux bouleverse son cœur. La jeune femme semble totalement insensible à la cour du soupirant. Et pourtant, une nuit…