After ten years at a psychiatric institute, Thomas, a fifty-year-old teacher, returns to Florence in search of the truth.

Retracing the steps he took with his young lover Irena, he learns who she really was. As similarities to Verdi's opera Rigoletto haunt the pages, Thomas confesses what happened between them in a desperate attempt to purify his soul, find peace of mind, and love.

Unable to accept the truth and its horrifying implications, Thomas is doomed to relive his past.