"I love her with passion; and that is precisely why I tremble," Dorante confides to Dubois, his former valet and faithful strategist, who recommends him to Araminte as her new steward — the better to approach her and, if possible, win her love. 

If taken on, his first task will be to examine the case file for a lawsuit between Araminte, a young widow, and the Comte Dorimont. The dispute concerns the ownership of a piece of land — a marriage between them would resolve it, as the property would then belong to the couple. The Comte appears to sincerely wish to marry Araminte, and is supported by Madame Argante, who covets a noble title for her daughter. The mother instructs the new steward to argue the merits of this match to Araminte — which he refuses. Everything hangs on Araminte's decision.

Without Dubois to confront them, the characters would remain locked within their fears. This is what draws Christophe Honoré to the play, with which he returns to the company he directed in 2020 in his adaptation of Proust's Le Côté de Guermantes. A writer, filmmaker and theatre director, he is drawn to the interior movement of texts. He approaches Marivaux's language here for the mystery it contains — stripped of all artifice, reaching for the truest thing. His aim is to illuminate the labyrinthine feelings that move through these characters: already mature, yet vulnerable, struggling to acknowledge their own desire.