Victorian England. For political reasons, they want to marry the beautiful Lavina to the dissolute Prince Stanislav, a drunkard and a scoundrel. The only way to avoid marriage is to announce your engagement to someone else. But who dares to go against the queen? The Marquis of Elswick, a brutal misogynist, agrees to play the role of the groom. But over time, Avalanche realizes that behind the Marquis’s rude manners lies a tremulous heart...