She is almost fifty, he is half as much, their connection has been going on for seven years. He is going to marry: his mother found him a bride - young Edma.
Leoni Walson, known as Lea de Louval, completes a prosperous career as a wealthy courtesan. She hides her age - only sometimes she languidly admits that on the slope of life she can afford some whims. Coevals admire her iron health, and younger women whom the fashion of 1912 awarded with a stooped back and a protruding belly jealously look at her tall bust. But most of all, both of them envy the young beautiful lover.
Once upon a time, Angel was just Fred for Lea - the son of her friend Charlotte Pelou. Adorable, like a cherub, the baby knew all the joys of a dissolute childhood. As befits a true prostitute, his mother assigned him to the servants, and then handed him over to college. Having survived her last love affair, Madame Pelou found that the boy became incredibly thin and learned to desperately swear. She took him home, and he immediately demanded horses, cars, jewelry, decent monthly maintenance - in a word, complete freedom. Leah often looks in Neuilly: for twenty years of acquaintance, she and Charlotte spent so many sad nights together that they could no longer do without each other. The angel led a wild life, he had shortness of breath, he constantly coughs and complains of migraines. Charlotte gazed with quiet hatred at the white ruddy Lea - the contrast with her son languishing before her eyes was too striking. Pitying the "ugly boy", Lea took Angel out to the nature. For one summer spent in Normandy, he ate and got stronger: Lea stuffed him with strawberries and cream, forced him to do gymnastics, took him on long walks - at night he fell asleep pacified, resting his head on her chest. Then Lea was sure that in the autumn she would release Angel “out of her mind”. Sometimes it seemed to her that she was sleeping with a black man or a Chinese - positively they spoke with Angel in different languages. Returning to Paris, Leah breathed a sigh of relief - with a fleeting connection was finally over. But the very next evening the young man burst into a mansion on Bujo Street, and a moment later they were lying in Lea's large soft bed.
Seven years have passed since that night. The envious sighs of aging girlfriends do not bother Lea. In the end, she does not hold the Angel on a leash - he can leave at any time. Of course, he is divinely beautiful, but he is greedy, selfish, prudent. In fact, he is just an gigolo: he has been living on her content for seven years and listens calmly to insulting hints. Lea convinces herself that he will easily find a replacement, and he is skeptical about the upcoming wedding: to give the young girl to be torn to pieces by Angel - what a reckless thought! Edma is only eighteen years old, she is charming and timid. As for the Angel, he is confident in his own irresistibility: Edme should bless fate for unheard of happiness.
The next visit to Neuilly turns into a nightmare: another “girlfriend” visited Charlotte - the ugly old Lily with her young lover Guido. Looking at this couple, Lea feels nauseous. Upon returning home, she tries to sort out her feelings: she has a chill, but there is no temperature. A month ago, an angel got married - that means this is the pain of loss. Now they are with Edme in Italy and are likely to make love. Lea is too proud of her restraint to go down to suffering. She immediately leaves Paris, leaving no address for anyone, and in a short note addressed to Charlotte, she transparently hints that the new romance was the reason for her departure.
The angel returns to Neuilly with his young wife. Everything seems ugly to him in his mother’s home compared to Lea’s exquisite decor. Edme annoys him with his humility. Charlotte, vicious by nature, does not miss a chance to prick her daughter-in-law more painfully. The angel is weighed down by a new life and constantly recalls his mistress - with whom the hell did she leave? Once he goes out for a walk, and his feet themselves carry him along the familiar road to Bujo Street. But the concierge knows nothing about Leah.
In the restaurant, Angel meets the Viscount Desmond, a friend of the old reckless days. Suddenly deciding, he goes to the Morrio Hotel, where Desmond is renting a room. Edme gently blows her husband’s flight. Desmon finds life beautiful, because the angel pays him much more generously than in his youth. After midnight, the Angel always leaves - these walks invariably end at Lea's mansion. The windows on the second floor are gaping in dead black. But once a light flashes there. Servants bring suitcases into the house. Angel grabs a hand at the heart. Perhaps this is happiness? Now you can caress poor Edme.
Putting things out of the suitcases, Lea is intensely struggling with growing and incomprehensible longing. Six months passed: she lost weight, rested, had fun with random acquaintances and broke up with them without any regret. They were all men of age, and Leah could not stand a withered body: she was not created to end her life in the arms of an old man - for thirty years she has owned radiant youths and fragile teenagers. These skippers owe her health and beauty - she not only taught them love, but surrounded her with truly maternal care. Didn't she save the angel? But there won’t be a second time, although the “ugly boy” is rumored to have escaped from home,
Charlotte Pelou paid Leah a visit, wanting to tell the good news: the angel returned to his wife. The poor boy needed to go crazy, because from the age of eighteen he did not have the opportunity to enjoy a single life. Edme showed herself from the best side - not a word of reproach, not a single complaint! Cute children made peace in their bedroom. Lea watches Charlotte with an angry gaze, mentally wanting to tuck her leg. Unfortunately, this snake is amazingly careful. Lea reflects on the inevitable old age. Probably should do something. Some of the friends succeeded by opening a restaurant and night cabaret. But Leah realizes that she does not like to work: her bed has always been a counter - it’s a pity that no new clients are expected. Suddenly, a bell rings in the silence of the night, and Lea instinctively grabs the powder box. This is an angel. He cries to the chest of his Nunun with tears. In the morning, Lea gently looks at the sleeping lover. He threw a silly beautiful wife and returned to her - now forever. She wonders where to arrange the nest. Both of them need peace.
The angel is not sleeping. Examining Aea from under his eyelashes, he is trying to understand where the great happiness he experienced the day before has gone. At breakfast, he looks sadly at his mistress, and Leah flares up, instantly catching pity. She finds the courage to help the unfortunate baby again, because it is so difficult for her to hurt her. In the courtyard, Angel hesitantly stops. Lea thrills her hands in delight - he is coming back! The old woman in the mirror repeats her gesture, and the young man on the street raises his head to the spring sky and begins to eagerly inhale the air - like a prisoner released.
