Awakened during the night by a thunderstorm, a young Parisian woman hears a violin playing in the house next door. The following morning, she becomes acquainted with Ellis, the musician, and they fall in love. The happiness of their subsequent marriage is brief, however. The wife begins frequenting the cabaret where Ellis is employed as a violinist, accompanied by one of her husband's friends, and she becomes disenchanted with her marriage. Learning of his wife's infidelity, Ellis attempts to jump into the Seine, but he is restrained by the police. He returns, insane, to the cabaret, where he discovers a secret door leading to a crypt. There he dwells among the bones, and time passes.