A small village in the north of France. Elizabeth, almost thirteen, is the daughter of the hairdressers of the town. For more than three years she has been secretly visiting Marcel, a forty-year-old mute man, who works as a caretaker at a castle, and whom the villagers call simple-minded. They have their rites, their games, their habits- their quarrels too, quickly forgotten and forgiven. Their relation is secret and strange, she is being in turn authoritarian and submissive. But, this little game becomes heavy while the girl becomes a young girl. One day, Elisabeth, who plays the organ at the church, passes the competition of the conservatory brilliantly. She leaves the village without regret, while Marcel can not bear her absence.