In the meantime, the German Army overruns Marcelo's Marne valley castle at the First Battle of the Marne. Marcelo is forced to host a German general and staff in the castle. One of Marcelo's three German nephews is among the staff and tries to protect him, but Marcelo is arrested after a mêlée involving an officer's assault of a woman. Marcello is to be executed in the morning, but his life is spared when the French Army counterattacks during the "Miracle of the Marne". The castle is destroyed by the French counterattack.