Wealthy elderly businessman Kurt Dreyer is sincerely in love with his wife, Martha, a young beauty with a serious face and cold gaze. He is absolutely certain that she reciprocates his feelings, but in reality, Martha is only interested in his money. Returning with his wife from the Tyrol to their native Berlin, Dreyer stops by his cousin's and promises to 'fix' her son Franz. In Berlin, he does his best to be a caring and sympathetic 'uncle.' Meanwhile, a poor provincial youth immediately falls in love with the luxurious Martha, who decides to use him to achieve her goals. Following the classic plot of the pulp romance novel, Nabokov creates a complex psychological, social, and philosophical work.