Helene is insecure about her younger lover Paul: does he truly want her or just her money and remoteness. She hates herself for this uncertainty but cannot shake herself of it. Paul meanwhile is an art student, and meets an older, famous architect Serge, whose assistant he would like to become. In the course of their conversation Serge reveals his past as a revolutionary in 1968, and later episodes in mental hospital. All three are experiencing melancholy and doubt in their lives.