It is 1866 in Madrid. The old regime is toppling as unrest hits the hot summer streets. Aging Don Jaime Astarloa goes about his business, teaching the children of upwardly mobile parents the ancient art of Fencing. His students do not appreciate the rigor and nuance that Don Jaime insists upon. They treat him as the honor-bound anachronism that he admits to being. He is more interested in living up to an ascetic — and acerbic — personal code that demands honor, truth, and devotion to principle.