Dufond wants his nephew Onesimus to marry a charming sportswoman Clorinde du Ring, who was widowed recently. However, Onesimus has fallen in love with another woman he has been friends with since childhood, and refuses to obey his uncle’s wishes. Dufond menaces to cut Onesimus’ allowance and makes life miserable to Leocadia. Leocadia finds a job quickly, as a fashion model, and she is successful with the first dress she models in - as the rich Clorinde wants to buy it. However, a young boy comes in a hurry to inform her that Onesimus is trying to drown in her bathtub, despairing that she left him alone. Leocadie darts after the boy to save Onesimus which she does, mussing up the elegant dress she was still wearing. After her, arrive the costume designer and his angry customer. Leocadie and Clorinde have a pillow fight in the living room. Feathers fly everywhere and cover the floor, but it’s Onesimus, still shaken and sitting on a chair, that takes most blows from the two enraged rivals who stand with him in the middle. Leocadie wins the battle against the sportive widow, and kicks her and Dufond out of the house.