 Polish Princess Elena (Ingrid Bergman) believes she was born to be the guardian angel of great causes and great (undiscovered) men. It is only when men need her that she is interested in them and she abandons them when they have accomplished their goals in life. She encounters Henry de Chevincourt (Mel Ferrer) who introduces her to General Francois Rollan (Jean Marais), who has just been nominated to become Minister of War. The General is bait for some conniving politicians who wish to turn the hero into a dictator. They take advantage of a current political trial and the resulting war scare to engineer a coup d etat which is meant to catapult the General into leadership. Rollan lets himself be taken in because he is in love with Elena who is in league with the plotters. Meanwhile, Henry, also in love with Elena, is hanging around on the sidelines.