After her mother's death, Jana is forced to leave her native village because her house has been sold. She searches in vain for work in the surrounding area. A young farmer named Michael finds the exhausted girl in the woods and takes her to the farm he runs with his older brother, Petr. Jana soon recovers and stays on as the housekeeper. The carefree Michael seduces her, and she falls in love with him. Michael is called up for military service in Prague, where he gives himself over to a dissolute lifestyle.