Virginia Oldoini, Countess of Castiglione, is an unscrupulous and beautiful woman, in love with Andrea Pieri, a patriot ready to do anything to free Italy from the foreign oppressor. Wounded during a chase, Pieri takes refuge in the castle of Virginia, which, with the approval of her husband, Count Francesco Verasis of Castiglione, takes care of him. Meanwhile, Nigra, in charge of the affairs of the Kingdom of Piedmont in Paris, discovers the relations of the countess with the subversives and sees in her the perfect tool to bring Napoleon closer to the Italian cause.
Episode 1
Milan, 1855. The beautiful Virginia, Countess of Castiglione, helps a young revolutionary painter, Andrea Pieri, to escape the Austrians. Passion breaks out between the two. Pieri portrays the woman in a sketch that arrives in the hands of Napoleon III, who instructs the diplomat Nigra, actually head of the secret services of Savoy, to track her down. He asked the woman to lend herself to a special patriotic mission: to support the efforts of the sàbauda diplomacy, seducing the Emperor of France and convincing him to put the question of Italian independence on the agenda of the Paris peace conference.
Episode 2
Virginia falls in love with Napoleon III. Empress Eugenia, who had hints of their love story, is shown a jealousy that could compromise her plans.
