Libuše Freslová

A fiction piece centered around the Czech resistance to the Nazis.

Cashier Ferdyš Pištora goes to rob the villa of banker Rosenštok. At that moment, a fire breaks out and Ferdyš saves the banker's two young children. He is hailed as a hero by everyone and Rosenštok makes him a messenger in the bank. This changes Ferdyš's entire life. He becomes a moralist and bullies the whole neighborhood with his sermons. He falls in love with Terezka, a member of the Salvation Army. Ferdyš's former lover Irma is jealous of Terezka. The two women argue and Terezka, in anger, claims that she killed her child and buried it in the cellar. Ferdyš believes this fabrication. In order to save her, he wants to give her the money that he was supposed to hand over to the bank. Out of jealousy, Irma tells the police that Ferdyš wanted to rob the banker's villa, and Ferdyš is arrested. However, Rosenštok intercedes for him and Ferdyš is acquitted. Terezka confesses that she made up the child's murder and celebrates her wedding with Ferdyš.

The story takes place at the time when Giacomo Casanova, probably the most famous conqueror of women, held the position of librarian at the Valdštejn castle in Duchcov. He was then a rather bored and grumpy old man who enjoyed only writing his memoirs and then a daily game of cards with the Count. But all that changed when Wallenstein's young nephew František Adam arrived at the chateau with his charming wife Valeria. She wanted to see the famous seducer with her own eyes. However, she was somewhat disappointed by the reality, as well as by the seducer's outdated views on love.

A verger, who likes to dress as a priest, is invited, by one of the villagers, to be the pastor at a vacant church. The atheist teacher resents the pastor, and tries to embarrass him in various ways, including being caught with the local girl, Majka.

An orphaned young woman named Jana moves into the household of Robert and his older, possessive wife, Klára. While Klára maintains a strict and manipulative control over the home, a mutual attraction develops between Robert and Jana. The three characters continue to live together as their domestic tensions increase.