Philippe von Martens returns to Vienna from Cairo, to help his friend, baron Viktor von Felsen, who is arrested, accused of being the murderer of Stephan Burger. All evidence and testimonies points at Felsen, but Philippe knows that Felsen is innocent, because he actually saw the killing himself. The only factor that stops him from telling this to the police, is that he thereby would seriously harm a woman's honor. The woman, Renate von Bellau, happens to be the judge's own wife. She was Philippe's big love when they were young, and just before he left for Cairo, they had a secret reunion in her winter garden. From the balcony of her house, he happened to see the forester Matthias Enger kill Stephan Burger beside the road. If the judge should get to know that his wife met her former lover secretly, she would probably be separated from both him and their little daughter. Philippe has to choose between saving Felsen from 20 years in prison, or saving Renate from divorce and the loss of her child.
