Massimo Odiot, Marquis of Champcey d'Hauterive, has inherited his father's high-sounding title and a sea of debt. To earn a living and support his little sister at boarding school, he is forced to accept a job as administrator for a wealthy bourgeois family, the Laroques. In his new environment, the young man exerts a charm that is not lost on Marguerite, the beautiful and proud heir of the new masters. She falls in love with Massimo, but the Count of Bellavan, who wants to marry her to get his hands on her wealth, makes her believe that Massimo is cheating on her.