The narrative is a triangle drama set in the Baltics during the Russian Civil War (1917-1922).

The novel begins with Erick von Lhomond, recently wounded during the Spanish Civil War, returning to Germany via Italy.

Erick had spent the happiest times of his youth there with relatives in the home of the Count of Reval, which now served as a barracks for the fighters.

In the end, his time in that house, both as a child, and as a soldier was never about games or war, it was always about Conrad.

His tendency toward solitude, largely brought on by the uncertainty of a future in war-worn Europe, kept him from sharing his feelings with those around him.