In Troyes, Thomas, the son of a bourgeois family, is in the final stages of his adolescence. He's almost an adult when he discovers that his mother has a lover. At the same time, he realizes that his father is turning a blind eye, and that the estranged couple are only together for show. Thomas rebels, but has to hide his dismay and satisfy his great need for tenderness at the same time.

After Regina Lampert falls for the dashing Peter Joshua on a skiing holiday in the French Alps, she discovers upon her return to Paris that her husband has been murdered. Soon, she and Peter are giving chase to three of her late husband's World War II cronies, Tex, Scobie and Gideon, who are after a quarter of a million dollars the quartet stole while behind enemy lines. But why does Peter keep changing his name?