Della, a TV producer, scouts Carlo Rinucci, an up-and-coming archaeologist, as her navigator for a new show. She quickly heads to Pompeii where he is working on an excavation. Upon meeting, the two unite passionately. However, Della already knows that for a man from a distinguished family such as his, this can only be a momentary fling. Also, she is seven years his senior with a child of her own. Even if he proposes to her seriously, she knows she can't subject him to her secret. In front of his relatives, she purposefully hurts him, and declares their separation.