The plot is motivated by a cruel wager between the beautiful but debauched Marquise de Merteuil and her misogynistic former lover, the Victome de Valmont. The Marquise challenges Valmont to seduce the virginal Cecile de Volanges before the girl can be wed. Valmont offers a more difficult counter-challenge: he bets the Marquise that he will be able to bed the very moral and very married Madame de Tourvel. In the course of carrying out his plan, Valmont is stricken with a sudden case of horror and remorse, while the Marquise becomes all the more vicious.