1788 was an auspicious year in France, and in the spring of that year Marguerite Sermand half-heartedly visited the business premises of Henri Ambergnac, whose life is regulated by family obligations and his work as a creator of made-to-order firearms. As the year progresses mutual attraction draws them closer together and their lives change considerably, but not without affecting those around them. One such person is Bruno Vanens, a man maintaining two identities, a self-centred man who keeps strange company and is willing to adopt any cause from which he will benefit, especially as unprecedented events are threatening the very social and political structure of the country. Vanens' main objective becomes the destruction of Ambergnac, with or without the aid of Claudine Ronseaux, a committed republican, and so vivacious that Marguerite acquires feelings of jealousy and doubt to go with the sense of guilt she tries constantly to suppress.
