1799, the General Souvarof invades Italy. The Marquise of O… is a young widow. Her father commands a zone in the thick of battle that is soon overcome by the Russians. The soldiers are about to ravage the Marquise when a Russian lieutenant colonel, Count F…, carries her off to a wing of the castle, and, when she faints, rapes her. The Marquise, unconscious at the time and therefore unaware of his act, thinks of him as her saviour and regrets being unable to express her thanks. Before long, she starts experiencing strange sensations and says to her mother that if another woman were to speak of the same complaints, she would believe she was pregnant…