Adapted from three stories by Maupassant. 'Le Masque' describes how an old man wears a mask of youth at a dance hall to extend his youthful memories. 'La Maison Tellier', the longest episode, deals with a day's outing for the ladies from a brothel and a brief romance. In 'Le Modéle' the model in question jumps from a window for love of an artist, who then marries her. These three on old age, purity and marriage are shot with a supreme elegance and sympathy and the central tale in particular luxuriates in the Normandy countryside. The whole is summed up by the concluding line, that 'happiness is no lark'.