A young man named Jean, shaped by the deaths and scandals of his parents and by an English aunt's guardianship, grows up under the ministrations of a local priest and the town doctor. He attempts a conventional working life at a bank but finds the tasks and social routines arid, revealing an artistic temperament and indifference to many practical concerns. The narrative observes the quiet tensions of a provincial community caught between tradition and encroaching modernity, tracing how family history, social expectations, and personal inclination intersect to shape Jean's uncertain path.