It is the summer of 1944, and Laurance (Judith Godreche) and her cousin Louis (Stanislaus Carre de Malberg) have always been fond of each other. Now, Louis has developed a crush on Laurance, and it appears that she is responding similarly. It seems that their relationship has every chance of thriving, until another man comes on the scene. Jack (Murray Head), is a dashing Englishman who has come to stay at Laurance's house to help organize the local resistance. Louis, smitten and jealous, is enraged when he discovers that his cousin has made love to the foreigner, and rushes off to denounce him to the authorities. He is immediately stricken with remorse and tries to undo what he has done, but the Jack's fate is sealed. Eventually he learns that his act of revenge was not the cause of the Englishman's death, but this does nothing to assuage his sense of guilt.