Papal aspirant "Cardinal Lamberti" has to tread a fine line between the powerful Duke of Montimar and doing the right thing by a young couple in love in late 1730s Bologna.

Gina is the daughter of a provincial newsstand dealer and spends her time reading pulp magazines and dreaming of a glamorous vocation on the big city. She enters a beauty contest in a nearby city, without her father's permission, and, en route, meets Franco, a salesman.