The household of a nobleman, referred to as 'Your Grace,' discovers its hearth is cold and its firewood and coal reserves are completely empty. His servant reports that all local coal merchants have closed shop. Desperate, the man tries to buy coal at double the market price, but a merchant refuses, stating his storage is empty. The man learns a woman named Elena has purchased every scrap of coal in the entire city. He orders his servant to fetch their reserves from the coal pits, but the servant returns to report the mines have also been completely emptied. Furious and left with nothing, the nobleman, Victor, vows revenge on Elena.