The play is set in the time of the NEP. Thirty-five-year-old Zoya opens a sewing workshop in her apartment, and under that cover she runs a house of rendezvous. As her assistants, she hires a charming con man, Ametistov, and a former nobleman—Zoya’s lover, Abolyanyin. Zoya hopes to earn money to leave for France, and at first her business develops very successfully. Zoya’s main client becomes the commercial director of a trust of refractory metals, Gus-Remontny. One day, in Zoya’s employee, he recognizes his mistress, Alla.