The novel unfolds around a series of gatherings in an ornate gothic salon where former bohemian companions, now partly incorporated into academic society, reunite. Warm conviviality gives way to tension as old friendships, artistic ideals, and national politics collide: debates over artistic integrity, institutional honors, and a celebrated guest from Norway expose splits between reformist outsiders and conservative professors. Episodes alternate lively reminiscence, song, and revelry with mocking speeches and ideological confrontation, tracing a shift in cultural life at the close of an era and examining loyalties, hypocrisy, and the costs of compromise.