On a tropical island in the 14th century, a group of noblewomen have fled the world, their hearts having been broken through the loss of their lovers. They vow to love no living thing, but they have transferred their loves to inanimate objects: Lady Vavir loves a sundial (a symbol of mortality), and her sister, Lady Hilda, loves a fountain (a symbol of vitality), and Melusine loves a hand mirror. Lady Vavir is a delicate girl and fears that she hasn't much longer to live. The only male allowed on the island is their servant Mousta, "a deformed ill-favoured dwarf, hump-backed and one-eyed" and therefore no threat to their maidenhood. Mousta is trying to practice magic from a book he has found, hoping to make himself handsome, for he desires to love and be loved.