Cora Pearl, a demi-mondaine under the Second Empire, falls in love with a legitimist while she is the mistress of Jérôme Bonaparte, the cousin of Napoleon III.

Gilbert Quercy, 18, tried to commit suicide after a heartache. At the hospital, three women try to cheer him up : the three former wives of his father, an archaeologist and an egyptologist, whom Gilbert called his "mothers". These women show a lot of willingness, but soon will become intrusive.