In Marseilles, France in 1794, Desiree Clary, a young millinery clerk, becomes infatuated with Napoleon Bonaparte but winds up wedding General Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, an aid to Napoleon who later joins the forces that bring about the Emperor's downfall. Joséphine de Beauharnais, a worldly courtesan marries Napoleon and becomes Empress of France, but is then cast aside by her spouse when she proves unable to produce an heir to the throne.—alfiehitchie