The play is set in Brussels, where Suzanne Beulemans, daughter of a wealthy brewer, is promised in marriage to Séraphin Meulemeester, son of a rival brewer. Both the young man and his father appear particularly motivated by the young bride's dowry. But Séraphin has a rival in the form of Albert Delpierre, a young Parisian intern at the Beulemans brewery, who is secretly in love with the young woman.