Izabella, a beautiful young woman, works at her aunt’s shop in a small town in Poland. She uses her hands to create unique small objects for the shop, but in the night she has the strange habit to feed bats.

In 1807, Napoleon meets and falls in love with 22-year-old Polish countess Marie Walewska, who is unhappily married to a much older man. Enchanted by the blonde, blue-eyed countess, the emperor enters into an affair with Marie, who uses the relationship to induce Napoleon to treat Poland fairly.