Tsar Alexandre II meets a young student, Katia. He understands that he loves her and try to send her away but they end up seeing each other again and becomes his mistress. With the help of Katia, Alexandre prepares a liberal constitution, but these reforms make him hostile to the more privileged subjects without satirising the revolutionaries against the regime.

Yan, captain of a fishing boat, falls in love with the daughter of his boss, to the great displeasure of Jenny, his jealous mistress.