Jacques Dombreval is the notary public of Riom in Puy-de-Dome, a rather old-fashioned province in France. Jacques's uncle, a rich and successful lawyer, has bought Jacques this notary office after he failed his law licensing exams. Jacques, who has no head for business, lets the office fall into disarray while he dreams of Paris, his easy student's life, and of Jacqueline Cordier, a fellow student who had in vain helped him with his studies, and who, having passed her exams, is now working. The arrival of Monsieur Emile Barbarin, Jacques's uncle's principal clerk, lifts the young man's spirits, but Barbarin wishes to leave almost as soon as he arrives, as the office is a mess. Jacques begs the clerk to stay and tells him that he has hired a master-clerk from Paris to help him. Both men are surprised when the lovely Jacqueline herself arrives. Jacqueline also has not realized that her new employer is the rakish Jacques, and she threatens to leave, but then remains at Jacques's urging. The couple kiss to seal their agreement. At a ball that night given by the Madame La Présidente du Tribunal, for the high society of Riom, a drunken Barbarin announces that Jacques keeps a mistress under his roof. The women guests disapprove of this conduct, and the rumor, which quickly spreads through the province, reaches Clermont-Ferrand, where the "Chambres des Notaires" decide to take action. Jacqueline, meanwhile, cannot leave the office, as the townspeople point at her and ridicule her as the "mistress clerk." Jacques then decides to save Jacqueline's honor and hires Gaby, a dancer with the Folies Bergères, to play the role of the mistress. Jacqueline believes that Gaby is truly Jacques's mistress, and she thus agrees to marry Le Comte Ludovic de la Tremblade, who has been pursuing her. Distraught, Jacques tells Jacqueline the truth, but she demands that her marriage contract with the comte nonetheless be signed under Jacques's auspices. The engaged couple arrive, and Jacques presents the contract to Jacqueline and the comte, who both sign. Jacques then takes her into his arms and presents her as his fiancée, adding that the contract is in his name and that the comte has only signed as the witness.