In 1897 Roland de Cigne is a fine officer in the army. In Paris there is a famous courtesan, la Belle Helene, and he and his fellow officers decide to gather the money to pay for one night with her, and they will draw the name of the officer who will be the lucky one. All this happens when the officers are at the Moulin Rouge. Jacques Le Sourd is also there, and he asks a waiter what is happening. The waiter is Luc Gascon, and he tells Jacques.
That night Jacques decides that this is his chance to kill Roland. So he hides behind a bus just opposite La Belle Helene's home, and first, he sees Luc come to deliver some flowers. Then when Roland arrives, Jacques is ready, but then a man appears, calling the cat that had been disturbing Jacques just a few minutes before. Jacques has to leave because there is no way he will be able to kill Roland tonight.
Roland spends a wonderful night with the courtesan, and we learn that the person who thwarted Jacques' intentions is Luc. When he came to deliver the flowers, he saw him, and he realised that he was up to no good. Since Luc was a good friend to the captain in Roland's unit, he felt he had to do something. After aborting Jacques' intention, Luc talks to the captain and Roland. Roland has no idea why Jacques would want him dead. Then Luc tells him that he won't have to worry, and he sends Jacques a message, implying that he is being watched. So Jacques decides to give up on his mission.
Some matter about a statue of Charlemagne has brought Roland's father and Jules Blanchard together. The viscount de Cygne thinks that Roland should marry, and Jules's daughter, Marie, is pretty and unattached, and even though the family is bourgeoisie and not noble, they have money. So the viscount asks Jacques to invite him to his home, and when the date comes, he sends his son instead. In the house he finds the Blanchard family: Madame Blanchard, Marie and the two brothers, Gerard and Marc. Marc is a painter and just that day Jules is upset when he learns that his son has compromised the daughter of an artisan of furniture and the girl is now pregnant. When Jules confronts him, both agree that he can't marry her, so Jules thinks that they need to send the girl away and get the baby adopted.
During the dinner there is a discussion about a current matter, which is Dreyfuss, a Jew who has been accused of revealing secrets to the Germans and now he is in prison. Zola has written a letter in his defence, claiming that he is in prison because he is a Jew. During dinner Jules's sister, Eloise is quite vocal about her agreement with Zola, which upsets Roland, who does not hesitate to express his opinions. It is Jules who puts an end to the discussion, but the rest of the dinner is a subdued event.
The novel goes back to the past. It is 1572, and Simon Renard is an eight-year-old boy, who is to go with his father, Pierre, and cousin Guy, to the royal wedding, a strange wedding according to Guy. Guy tells Pierre that he is afraid that Catherine de Medicis has supported the idea of her idea marrying Henry of Navarre, a Protestant. What he fears is that Catherine has set the wedding to kill all the protestants. That is what happens, and there is a wave of murders as Protestants are killed. One morning Simon looks out of the window and sees a little girl. Even though he is supposed not to leave the house, he quickly goes out and takes the girl inside. Her name is Constance, and the lump in the middle of the street that Simon thought was a sack is Constance's dead mother. Simon's parents are not happy with Simon's behaviour, but they agree the girl should stay as long as Simon and she don't leave the room. Guy comes with terrible news about the slaughtered Protestants. For two weeks Constance remains in the room with Simon, and then Guy comes to say that Henry of Navarre has converted to Catholicism, so after all the slaughtering things will go back to normal. Simon hears his beloved cousin, Guy, to say that if the deaths of all the Protestants mean that they have a united France, it may have been worth it. Simon feels that he won't love his cousin as much as before. Then his father thinks that they need to take Constance to his family in La Rochell. The two children say goodbye, and Simon tells her that one day he will marry her.
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