Summary

Austria in the last years of the monarchy: Wilhelm Kasda, Lieutenant of the Infantry, lives the life of a young officer. These include small, irrelevant affairs like those with Steffi. Steffi is a simple young woman. Kasda does not realize that her devotion is real love. After a night at the hotel, Kasda gives her a bill and disappears. A few years later, in June 1914, Kasda was visited by a former comrade, Lieutenant von Bogner. He had to resign years ago for gambling debts, is now married, works as a cashier in an office and has embezzled money.