The middle-aged and dissolute poet Albert de Lincel pursues St�phanie, marquise de Rostan who, although attracted, continually rebuffs him. What is the problem? Is it Albert's notorious affair twenty years previously with the celebrated writer Antonia Black? Set as a story within a story, the desperate Albert recounts the true tale of his stormy relationship with Antonia, hoping to set the record straight. But St�phanie's reluctance, moved though she is, has another cause. She has given her heart to a man far away, toiling at the great novel which will make his name.
