Jean-Louis Trintignant stars in this black-and-white French drama, the third in Eric Rohmer's cycle of six 'moral tales'. Jean-Louis (Trintignant) is a 34-year-old Catholic engineer and mathematician who has set his sights on Francoise (Marie-Christine Barrault), a pretty young blonde he meets in church. When his friend, Vidal (Antoine Vitez), introduces him to worldly and witty divorcee Maud (Francoise Fabian), Jean-Louis ends up staying overnight at her house and the two engage in philosophical discussions throughout the night. Despite Maud's advances towards Jean-Louis, their time together remains chaste, and the following morning Jean-Louis resumes his courtship of Francoise.