Konstanty Willemann, a Varsovian, but the son of a German aristocrat and a Polonized Silesian woman, cares little for patriotic slogans and traditions sanctified by the blood of heroic soldiers. He is a cynic, a scoundrel and a bon vivant. An unfaithful husband and a bad father. Konstanty reluctantly takes part in the September campaign, and after its defeat, he also becomes a member of a secret organization against his will. He does not want to be a Pole, he does not want to be a German. He only wants to get another bottle of morphine and live his old life as a socialite and womanizer.