Paris, France-1814. The French emperor, Napoleon Bonaparte, is defeated and faces banishment to Elba, while Prussian forces occupy the capital.
A Hussar officer, Lieutenant Hugo von Lowenklau, comes to the rescue of a young Parisian woman, Margot Richemonte. This simple act, while ingratiating Hugo into her family, pits him against her calculating and opportunistic stepbrother, Captain Albin Richemonte.
Albin is determined to marry her off to the wealthy Baron de Reillac, all in an effort to extricate himself from his own mounting gambling debts. In the face of Margot's blossoming romance with Hugo, the baron and the captain aren't about to let the lieutenant whisk the lady away. Stopping at nothing to rid themselves of Lowenklau-even murder-they concoct a daring plot, ultimately exposing Hugo to Napoleon's wrath.
Outnumbered and overwhelmed, the lieutenant finds himself in the fight of his life, while trying to keep Margot out of the villains' clutches.
