At the home of the Marquise de Rochefide, Nathan relates the story of La Palferine aka Count Rusticoli. Also present is Madame de la Baudraye who has written a short story based on something he had told her a few weeks prior. La Palferine is a member of the Rusticolis, a family that came to France with Catherine de Medici and received their title when one of them married the heiress of the Comte de la Palferine. The family’s fame and fortune faded and the current La Palferine’s father became a soldier during the Revolution.