Linda Tressel, a young girl in Nuremberg, lived with her aunt Frau Staubach, a religious fanatic who thought that all young girls were inclined to think too much of worldly things. To provide a stabilizing effect she arranged a marriage for her niece with old Peter Stenimarc, who had an eye of Linda’s property. Linda disliked him intensely and had, moreover, fallen in love with Ludovic Valcarm, a young man of her own age, and Peter’s cousin. Ludovic’s political views were displeasing to the police, and when Linda ran away with him to Augsburg, he was arrested as they stepped from the train. Frau Staubach followed them and took Linda back to Nuremberg, where her elderly suitor repudiated her.