Princess Christina, a woman of formerly modest means who is trapped in a loveless though lucrative marriage to the ruthless, womanizing Hans, prince of Zeiss. Thirty-year-old Christina is a proper wife and mother, devoted to her two sons and loyal to her husband, despite his many infidelities over their 12 years of marriage. She is inspired to cheat on him first when his philandering is thrown in her face during a country outing, and then when she accidentally walks in on the renowned American stud Maxwell Falconer, the marquis of Vale, in flagrante delicto with one of her married friends, who urges her to give Max a try.