St.Petersburg, 1830. An arrogant Finnish baron is playing cards with a Russian officer. Needless to say, the Finn wins and the Russian gets extremely annoyed. The situation is not helped by the fact that the baron has been seeing a girl that the Russian officer has also set his eyes on. They decide to have a duel and after the Finn wins fair and square, he has to escape because the untrustworthy Russians are after him.
At the eve of Crimean war orphaned Regina lives with her grandmother in a small cabin near a lavish villa. As the summer approaches there is great anticipation of a big ball to be held.
Helga Suotorppa has given birth to an illegitimate child while working as a maid. Inkeri, the kind-hearted mistress of the Lehtola house, offers the woman, who has a bad reputation in the village community, a place to work, which the desperate Helga gratefully accepts. She supports Mauria, who is in trouble after being abandoned by his rich and proud fiancée Hildur.
