After refusing to join her husband for quite some time, Minna eventually agrees to move to Zürich to be reunited with Wagner. She manages to persuade Wagner to start conducting and composing again and urges him to travel to France. In Bordeaux, he meets a wealthy Scottish emigre, Mrs. Taylor, who agrees to become a patron of his, although he has a brief affair with her married daughter. Upon traveling to Paris, Wagner is ordered to leave the city at once and return to Zürich. In Zürich, Wagner meets up with his good friend Franz Liszt, while also taking on a pupil, ...