In 19th-century France Gilles de la Trave persuades Colette a young and beautiful peasant girl from one of his estates to become his mistress and live the life of a Parisian courtesan. However it is his son Victor that she loves and expects to marry. In a moment of passion and curiosity she confesses her sins to the local priest unaware that the cure has his own agenda: one which involves himself and Victor. Shocked Colette takes the only sensible option for a young girl from the provinces she flees to Paris to immerse herself in a life of wild indulgence and luxury!