De Soie et de Cendre plot
1936. After having spent a few years in a monastery, Marthe decides to move in with her father again. But soon, things run high again and Marthe would like to escape her father's parental power. In a hurry, she decides to marry Antoine in order to break free from her father. Antoine turns out to be the ideal husband. He is tender and caring and he leaves his wife completely free. But as much as he seems to love Marthe, he never sleeps with her. Marthe thinks he is cheating on another woman and wants to catch him in the act. One evening she manages to chase him unnoticed and when she storms into the hotel room in question, she finds Antoine in the arms of another man. Nevertheless, she decides to continue this marriage of convenience. However, things get more complicated when she starts an affair with Dimitri Zamelsky, a German Jew. When the Second World War is about to break out, she becomes pregnant by him.