Cornélie de Retz Van Loo, a 23-year-old recently divorced socialite, tries to begin a new life in Italy, with mixed feelings. After spending time in Rome, however, she discovers that Italy itself can never bring her the consolation she seeks, and writes a pamphlet on'The Social Position of the Divorced Woman'. Flouting convention, she moves in with the Dutch painter Duco van der Staal, with only two acquaintances - an amorous Italian prince and the American heiress whom he has married for her money - for company. In desperate financial straits, Cornélie is forced to take a position as companion to an elderly American lady in Nice, where she unexpectedly runs into her ex-husband. Will she be able to resist his continuing power over her?