The film is set in 1917 Trieste, where wealthy, elderly businessman and war profiter Peter Pasetti leads a highly ordered existence. When beautiful young working girl Leslie Malton disrupts it, he decides to be her benefactor, and as he convinces himself of the nobility of his motivation, a voice-over reveals the true state of his ever self-serving mental affairs. He sees Malton only when it suits him, and when his doctor tells him to end the relationship because of his weak heart, he does so abruptly, again convincing himself that whatever he does is for the good others. From his actions, reactions and need moralize emerges a complex study of old age and moneyed hypocrisy (always analyzed by the voice over) which culminates in an obsession with trying to write about what youth owes old age.