The action takes place in 1797 and 1798. In the aftermath of the coup d'état of Fructidor, the Directory takes draconian measures against the royalists. A decree condemns to death any emigrant arrested on the territory of the Republic. The young, pretty and witty "citizen" Victoire de la Villirouët receives her husband, the Count de la Villirouët, an ex-emigrant, at her home under an assumed name. He is quickly arrested and brought before the Military Tribunal, where he risks the death penalty. Victoire thinks only of saving her husband, whom she loves passionately. After a hundred difficulties, she obtains the right to defend him herself, as the law does not prevent this. And on 23 March 1799, she pleads for him.
—Guy Bellinger