Two émigré families petition Emperor Napoleon for the restoration of their lands under the conditional amnesty offered. The first is Monsieur le comte de Courson, for himself and his daughter Fernande. The second is Madame la marquise de Mortain and her son Laurent. And it just do happens that these two elders, brother and sister, have long ago arranged for their children to wed.
Now the Marquise has been out of the country, but her elder son, from her first marriage, is Ronnay de Maurel, a good Republican, brought up by his uncle Gaston–who “eats peas with his knife and wears sabots and a blouse” and voted for the death of the King. With this sort of upbringing, the warrior-trained Ronnay, so long ago deserted by his mother, seems by report to be a very heathen and a mere provincial. And yet he lives in the Château de la Vieuville and enjoys the title of Monsieur le comte and enjoys the trust of the Emperor himself.
What will happen when the brothers and their cousin are brought suddenly into close proximity to each other?