This is a short story of a man who gets on a tram to return some books to a friend. He runs into a gossipy friend who starts telling him about what may or may not be a true story. The friend, a doctor, tells him about a stunning countess who has an imprudent admirer and a scheming butler. The narrator hardly listens to the tale until the doctor reveals the butler's mysterious hold over the countess. After his interest is aroused, the man is left hanging when the doctor leaves the tram without finishing the story. The narrator realizes the newspaper he has covered the books in has a feuilleton printed that seems to pick up the doctor's story. He reads it and, despite some variations with the doctor's tale, begins to imagine characters from it entering and exiting the tram. He overhears bits and pieces of stories on his return tram ride and assumes they are part of the countess' tale and several unexpected events follow. What happens later with the man unfolds later in this intriguing and unique story.