While watching a bullfight, Simona relives a traumatic experience she had when she was younger.  Simona and her lover Georges had a free and joyful sexual relationship, and used to meet on the beach.  One day they spot a girl spying on them; she is the young Marquise Marcelle De Paille, who lives almost buried alive in her father's house.  Since the premature death of Marcelle's mother, her father has developed an ambiguous and obsessive attachment to his daughter and will do everything to keep Marcelle near him.  Simona and Georges decide to free Marcelle from her captivity with tragic consequences.