Polish countryside during WWII: Witold, the narrator, is at a gathering of his intellectual artist friends in Warsaw, where he meets Frederick, a mysterious, but charming, stranger. They hit it off, so he invites Frederick along as he goes to visit the home of his friend Hipolit and his wife Maria. Witold and Frederick become obsessed with arranging the coupling of Hipolit's beautiful teenage daughter, Henia, and an equally beautiful young man, Karol, who is working at the farm. But Henia is engaged to Vaclav, who is visiting with his deeply religious mother, Amelia. As the two middle-aged gentlemen scheme, Germans fight with the Polish resistance, led by Siemian, in the woods nearby. Hipolit supports the resistance and his household is thrown into chaos when he is ordered to "liquidate" Siemian to prevent him from talking if he's captured by the Germans. Meanwhile, Frederick's obsession with Veronika, a pretty young maid at the house, masks a dark secret from his past.