Set as a love triangle during the années folles, it proved controversial, as did his first psychological novel, Le Diable au corps, published in 1923.
At first he meets diplomat Paul Robin, a friend of the Comte Ann d’Orgel at a performance by the Cirque Medrano.
Here he meets Anne's wife, Countess Mahaut d'Orgel, and falls in love with her at first sight.
Anne traces a distant common descent for François and Mahaut from Grimoard de la Verberie.
Roman où c'est la psychologie qui est romanesqueA novel where psychology is the subjectCes énoncés sentencieux, qui révèlent la présence triomphante de l'auteur, seul capable d'analyser les mécanismes psychologiques qui échappent aux personnagesThese sententious statements, revealing the omniscient presence of the author, show him to be the only one capable of analysing psychological mechanisms of which the characters themselves are unaware