While the Napoleonic Wars are raging in Europe, everyday worries occupy the Tollman family in Stockholm. The widow Ulrika and the merchant Gustav have a hard time keeping the way with the wayward sister Betty.
Claes Ekencrona has been sent to the front in Finland. Betty Tollman struggles alone with both blows that hit her: the knowledge that she is illegitimate and also pregnant with Ekencrona's child.
Betty Tollman is preparing to finally become Claes Ekencrona's wife. Blissfully ignorant of his parents' opposition to the party, or the fact that Claes has been reached by rumors that she is Abraham Schöndorff's mistress.
