Copenhagen in the 1890s. A pleasant city for those who experienced it at the time. This is the story of how Therese Schrøder came to live with Professor Jacobsen and became the children's nanny, which led to her meeting her sailor. This caused quite a stir in bourgeois circles at the time.
On the idyllic Birkø lives Christian a parish executive officer. He is a brave and honest man, happily married to Martha, and this couple has a son called Theo and he will once take over the farm.