In 1922, Infantry Captain Fernando Salas, arriving from Madrid, joins, without much enthusiasm, a battalion ruled by Commander Almendro, a tough veteran of the African war who soon notices a clear lack of military vocation in the new recruit.

Eugenia de Montijo, an extraordinarily beautiful woman, educated and intelligent daughter of the Count of Montijo, decides to start a European tour when she discovers that the Duke of Alba, whom she believed her suitor, actually intends for her sister. In Paris she meets Napoleon III, the future emperor of France, who is bewitched by the beauty of the young aristocrat from Granada