The film stars Charlotte Rampling, Simone Signoret, Bruno Cremer, Edwige Feuillère and, in a cameo, Alida Valli.

Getting a lift in a lorry, it crashes when the driver has his eyes stabbed out; Emerging from the wreckage, she is rescued by Louis who, with an unstable colleague Marcucci, is on his way to a business meeting in a hotel.

Louis rescues Claire and takes her back to his isolated house, where they spend the night making love.

Feeling sorry for the girl, Lady tells her that she is the result of her dead mother's affair with a circus artiste and lets her escape; As she waits for a train, she is told by an older woman that she is recognisably insane.

The accountant of the family firm tells her it is going downhill through the aunt's mismanagement and that, as the rightful owner, she should take charge.