In hospital, Livia Horváth, bandaged around her neck is recuperating, and is told that she will be unable to live her life as before; the reason is not made explicit.

The lesbian Éva, already known to the authorities for her private life, begins a new job as a journalist at The Truth, a weekly periodical, and meets the married Livia when the two women share an office.

Late at night, while kissing in darkness on a park bench, the women are discovered by a policeman, who warns Livia that her husband and employer will be informed if she is found in the same uncompromising position again.

Her understanding editor, a supporter of the short-lived government of the recently executed Imre Nagy, refuses to publish the article, and she resigns before she is sacked.

The previously mild Dönci Horváth, an army officer, shoots his wife while she in the bath after her confession of love for Éva.