In 1913 a young second lieutenant discovers the terrible danger of pity. He
had no idea the girl was lame when he asked her to dance - his compensatory
afternoon calls relieve his guilt but give her a dangerous glimmer of hope.
Stefan Zweig's only novel is a devastating depiction of the torment of the
betrayal of both honour and love, realised against the background of the
disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.