Zoé, a pretty penniless girl, decides on the advice of her neighbor to embark on gallantry. After a brief failure, she meets a young boy, Jacques Lebreton who is about to get married. After causing the failure of this arranged marriage, she will have to play the role of wife of Jacques with his family, until the arrival of the uncle from America.

Russia, 1835. Lieutenant Hermann, a compulsive gambler, is fascinated by an infallible martingale held by Countess Tomski, nicknamed The Queen of Spades. The day Hermann wants to wring the secret from her, the countess dies of fear. Following this tragic scene, Hermann sinks into dementia. Luckily, Lisa, his frail lover, brings him back to life and happiness.

Maxime, heir to an old provincial family, is deeply in love with Maud whom he makes his fiancée. But learning that the young girl's life has not always been beyond reproach, he refuses to marry her and returns to his castle in the company of his sister who, happier than him, has met a man worthy of being in Paris. love.