D'elmont returns to Paris after war service and quickly becomes the most admired figure in Parisian society.

Alovisa falls in love with D'elmont and sends him an anonymous letter before a ball declaring her feelings.

D'elmont singles out Amena at the ball and begins a secret romantic pursuit of her.

Amena's father discovers his daughter has been meeting D'elmont secretly and confronts her about her behavior.

Amena departs Paris for a convent after feeling betrayed by both D'elmont and Alovisa.

D'elmont marries Alovisa, choosing wealth and social advantage over romantic feeling.

The dying Monsieur Frankville asks D'elmont to become the guardian of his daughter Melliora.

D'elmont and Melliora meet and instantly fall in love, leaving both trapped in an impossible situation.

D'elmont secretly obtains keys to Melliora's rooms and sneaks in at night to assault her before being interrupted.

A violent confrontation between Brillan and D'espernay leads to D'elmont accidentally impaling Alovisa with his drawn sword.

Alovisa and D'espernay both die from their wounds while D'elmont and Brillan face no legal consequences.

Melliora retreats to a convent out of guilt while D'elmont travels to Rome in despair.

D'elmont joins an unfair street fight and saves the outnumbered man, who turns out to be Melliora's brother Frankville.

The travelling group shelters at Saguillier's estate, where D'elmont discovers Melliora has been held captive there.

D'elmont and Melliora marry at a triple wedding celebrating three couples' happy unions.

Count D'elmont returns from war to Paris as a celebrated figure, toying with Amena's affections before marrying the wealthy Alovisa for social advantage rather than love. His life is upended when he falls genuinely in love with his ward Melliora, setting off a spiral of obsession and jealousy that culminates in a violent confrontation killing both Alovisa and D'espernay. Freed by widowhood but consumed by grief, D'elmont travels to Rome, where a chance street fight connects him to Melliora's brother Frankville and draws him into a new romantic intrigue. His desperate search for Melliora ends when she turns up captive at a nobleman's estate, and her guardian's intervention finally breaks the obstacle between them. The novel closes with D'elmont and Melliora marrying at a triple wedding, rewarding years of faithful longing with a joyful resolution.

The rise and fall of D'elmont's reckless loves, from Paris to Rome and back.

Brillan arrives in Paris with news of falling in love with Ansellina and fighting a duel with his rival Bellpine.

D'elmont realizes marrying Alovisa would also improve Brillan's chances of marrying Ansellina and decides to propose.

D'elmont receives a letter from Amena rebuking him for the callous way he treated her.

Alovisa bribes a servant, intercepts D'elmont's reply letter to Amena, and destroys it before it can be sent.

D'elmont confides his love for Melliora to Baron D'espernay, who encourages him to pursue her more aggressively.

D'elmont corners Melliora in her private rooms and confesses his love, but she firmly refuses him.

D'espernay hosts a party and secretly arranges for D'elmont to access the room where Melliora will sleep.

Melantha overhears the plan and secretly switches rooms with Melliora before D'elmont enters.

D'elmont has sex with Melantha in the darkened room, mistaking her for Melliora.

Alovisa secretly arranges for Brillan to interrupt her meeting with D'espernay the moment he names her rival.

Frankville recounts to D'elmont how he fell in love with Camilla and how their secret affair was betrayed by a servant.

Ciamara sends D'elmont a letter confessing she posed as Camilla during his visit to her home.

D'elmont and Frankville visit Ciamara's home with Frankville disguised as a servant in order to reach Camilla.

Violetta writes to warn D'elmont that Ciamara is furious with him and may attempt to poison him.

Frankville and Camilla reconcile at a convent meeting and agree to flee Rome together with D'elmont.

Beneath the main love affairs runs a dense web of scheming, manipulation, and self-interested meddling that shapes every relationship in the novel. Brillan's arrival in Paris introduces the subplot of his love for Ansellina, which directly motivates D'elmont's pragmatic proposal to Alovisa. D'espernay and Melantha emerge as genuine villains whose interference culminates in the infamous bed-trick, where Melantha substitutes herself for Melliora to sabotage D'elmont's plans. In Rome, Frankville's account of his love for Camilla reveals a parallel romance full of its own obstacles, rival guardians, and near-disasters. Violetta's quiet, selfless loyalty offers a striking counterpoint to all the scheming, as she helps Frankville and Camilla reconcile even at cost to herself.

The schemes, deceptions, and secret alliances behind every romance.

Amena discovers an anonymous letter D'elmont mistakenly gave her, exposing Alovisa as his secret admirer.

Alovisa summons Amena's father and persuades him to send Amena to a convent, removing her as a rival.

D'elmont realizes Alovisa wrote the anonymous love letters and begins considering her as a practical marriage prospect.

D'elmont discovers Alovisa intercepted and destroyed his letter to Amena and confronts her angrily.

Amena takes permanent convent vows, and D'elmont receives her furious second letter accusing him of never replying.

D'elmont encounters Melliora alone in the garden after confronting Alovisa, and the two embrace before being interrupted.

D'espernay leads Alovisa to the room where D'elmont is with an unidentified woman, and she catches them together.

Melliora arrives at the bedroom scene and D'elmont realizes he slept with Melantha rather than his beloved.

Ansellina arrives in Paris cold toward Brillan after receiving Alovisa's letters casting suspicion on D'elmont and his brother.

Melliora overhears Alovisa's scheme to learn her rival's identity and secretly asks D'elmont to come to her rooms.

D'elmont receives a letter from Brillan reporting that Melliora has been abducted from her convent.

News reaches the travelling group that Ciamara has died by suicide and Cittolini has also died.

Melliora secretly enters D'elmont's bedchamber at Saguillier's estate and the two lovers are joyfully reunited.

Saguillier summons his guests to witness his wedding to Melliora and is stunned to learn they are her guardian and brother.

Frankville grows jealous over Fidelio's closeness with Camilla until Camilla reveals that Fidelio is actually Violetta in disguise.

The novel turns on a series of revelations in which hidden identities, intercepted letters, and overheard plans shatter alliances and force new choices. Amena's accidental discovery of Alovisa's anonymous letter sets the first love triangle into open conflict, while Alovisa's interception of D'elmont's reply deepens the marital crisis and pushes Amena permanently into the convent. The bedroom confrontations at D'espernay's house party expose both D'elmont's deception and Melantha's substitution, while Ansellina's cold arrival in Paris reveals the damage Alovisa's scheming has done to Brillan's relationship. Ciamara's written confession that she impersonated Camilla is the revelation that rescues Frankville's romance, and the news of her suicide removes the last danger from the travellers' path. The novel's final turning points — Melliora sneaking into D'elmont's room, Saguillier's stunned recognition of his guests, and Fidelio's true identity revealed — bring every thread to a swift and satisfying close.

The discoveries, confrontations, and exposed secrets that shifted every character's fate.