Michael Flach

In the village Karrild, the Countess Sonia Hardenborg and a young unmarried woman, Marta, give birth to a daughter on the same day. Marta dies after birth, so Marta's daughter, Betina, come under the care of the countess. 17 years later, Betina and Countess Sonia's daughter, Maria, meet, as Betina is living in a home for orphaned girls, which is adjacent to the Hardenborg estate. The two girls become friends, and Maria invites Betina to visit her at Hardenborg, to greet her parents Sonia and Otto Hardenborg and her brother Count Flemming. Meanwhile, Betina's father, Frank Jensen, starts working in the estate's woods, and when the two girls come to visit him, he is shocked by the resemblance between the young countess and Betina's mother Marta.

The old doctor, Dr. Bonnesen, is a tired old man. He wants to sell his practice and has been corresponding with the young doctor Jens Winther. Jens arrives in Fjorslev to discuss a possible takeover of Bonnesen's practice and his patients. Bonnesen's beautiful young housekeeper, Anne Mette Krogh, welcomes him. Bonnesen takes a liking to Jens Winther and makes him an offer he cannot refuse.