The main character, on whose behalf the story is being told, and his friends are fiercely arguing at the dining table about a scandalous incident that recently took place in the same guesthouse. Madame Henriet, a decent wife and good mother, decided to leave her husband and two daughters for the sake of a young Frenchman she only knew one day. Her act caused a wave of indignation, but there were those who stood on the side of his wife, thinking that it was better to leave her husband than mentally betray him. These include the main character. He stands fiercely on her side, striking the Englishwoman Mrs. K., an elderly widow. For a long time, he continued to talk to her, and any conversation they did was reduced to one way or another by Madame Henriet.
When the main character informed Mrs. K. of her intention to leave the boarding house, she was very agitated and left a story in the narrator's room that evening asking her to come to her room for a private conversation. The next day, the Englishwoman told him a story from her life.
Among the most important works by Stephen Zweig are the books and stories “Conscience Against Violence: Castellio vs. Calvin”, “Amok”, “The Leaf of a Stranger”, “The Invisible Collection”, “The Confusion of Feelings”, “Star Moments of Humanity”, “Mendel-Booker”, "Chess Novel", "Burning Mystery".
