Gabrielle de Montserrat had been a boarder in the convent of the Benedictine nuns in Vic from the age of six to the age of eleven. At eleven she is taken back to the chateau of Fontfreyde, her birthplace, to meet her mother for the first time since her birth.

At fifteen, Gabrielle meets and falls in love with Pierre-André Coffinhal, a young physician. Gabrielle is a noblewoman and Pierre-André a commoner. Once Gabrielle's brother learns of her engagement to Pierre-André he marries her off to a distant cousin who is widowed and forty-five years of age. Baron de Peyre is a cruel and abusive man. When the Baron dies unexpectedly he leaves Gabrielle and his daughter destitute.

Gabrielle travels to Paris to stay with a distant relative. It is here that Gabrielle comes into the court of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. She becomes the mistress of a nobleman. As the Revolution comes barreling in, Gabrielle’s path and that of her one-time financé, Pierre-André, cross once again.