Beautiful but ruthlessly ambitious, Aleth Guépie, the innkeepers'daughter, marries Robert Paluel, the son of rich farmers, who should normally have wedded sweet Mariette, an orphan taken in by his mother. Aleth, who loves money rather than her husband, does not make him happy and it does not take long before she cheats on him with a marquis. Robert falls ill but not enough to the liking of his scheming wife, who decides to poison him.