In the last days of May, soldiers and a marketer of the Paris Red Hat battalion stumble in the Sodrey Forest on a Breton peasant woman with three children - a baby girl and two boys a little older. Michelle Flashar killed her husband and burned the hut - left without a piece of bread, the unfortunate woman wanders wherever she looks. At the suggestion of Sergeant Radoub, the battalion adopts Georgette, Rene-Jean and Gro-Alain. On June 1, the military frigate Claymore, disguised as a merchant ship, sailed from England: he was to deliver to France a passenger - a tall old man in peasant clothes and bearing the prince's posture. Disaster occurs on the way: one of the gunners badly fixed the gun, a huge colossus breaks down, and the damaged ship loses control. The blundering gunner is trying to fix the matter - at a crucial moment, the majestic old man, risking his life, throws a bag with false bills under the wheels, and put the gun in place. The captain turns to the old man for orders: he rewards the gunner with the cross of St. Louis, and then orders to shoot him. Having lost precious time, the frigate dies in an unequal battle with the French squadron, but before that, the royalists quietly lower the boat to save the old man, the future leader of the rebellious Vendée. One of the sailors volunteers to accompany him: when they stay together, he takes out a gun - the murdered gunner was his brother. The old man calmly explains that the culprit only got what he deserved. If the sailor is not afraid of the eternal curse, let him take revenge - then his native Brittany will be captured by the bloodthirsty atheist Republicans. Galmalo can not resist the ironic logic of these arguments - kneeling, he pleads for forgiveness and swears allegiance to the "monsignor." The old man instructs him to notify all adherents of the faith and the king that the castle of Turg is appointed as an assembly point. Galmalo nods joyfully: these are the possessions of his seigneur, Marquis de Lantenac, he grew up there and often climbed an underground passage that no one knows about ... The old man interrupts the sailor: there is nothing like this in Turg, these are the usual tales of local peasants. Having landed on the shore, the aristocrat and sailor leave: Galmalo leaves on an errand, and the old man goes to the nearest village. A beggar blocks his road - Mr. Marquis cannot go there, a reward has been assigned for his head. Good Telmarsh harbors Lantenac in his own shack, because he is abhorred by the idea of ​​betrayal. The next morning, the Marquis sees the order for his execution, signed by the commander of the expeditionary force Gauvin - this name makes a strong impression on the old man. Suddenly, people appeared from all sides, as if from under the ground - the Bretons, having learned about the appearance of the leader, rushed to the place of his landing and destroyed the republican detachment in the village. Lantenac orders the execution of prisoners, without making an exception for two women. He is informed of three children: he tells them to take them with him - then it will be clear what to do with them. And Telmarsh picks up one of the shot women: this nursing mother was lucky - the bullet only broke her collarbone.

Europe is at war with France, and France is at war with Paris. The city is breathing revolution - they even smile heroically, and small children babble “sa ira”. There is no shortage of tribunes and preachers; among them stands the former priest Simurden - a man of ferocious righteousness and frightening purity. He has only one affection: in his youth, he was a mentor to a small Viscount, whom he loved with all his heart. When the boy grew up, the teacher was shown at the door, and he lost his pupil from sight. Then a great storm struck: Simurden, having renounced the dignity, devoted himself entirely to the cause of the rebellious people - in 93 he became one of the most influential members of the Episcopate, which, along with the Convention and the Commune, has all power in the revolutionary capital. On June 28, a secret meeting takes place in a pub in Pavlina Street: a sleek young man in a sky blue coat, a red-faced giant with a lion's mane of hair and a disgusting dwarf in a woman’s knitted sweater — Robespierre, Danton and Marat, are sitting at a table. Leaders quarrel: Robespierre believes that the main danger comes from Vendée, Danton argues that there is nothing worse than an external enemy, and Marat longs for dictatorship - a dissonance of opinions will destroy the revolution. The appearance of Simurden interrupts the argument. The former priest takes Robespierre's side: if you do not strangle the Vendee rebellion, the infection will spread throughout the country. The Marquis de Lantenac knows very well what needs to be done - it is enough for him to conquer a small bridgehead on the coast, and English troops will land in France. Robespierre, instantly appreciating the virtues of Simurden, appoints him the Commissioner of the Convention in Vendée - he will be with a young commander who has great military talents, but is distinguished by excessive condescension to prisoners. This young man is from former nobles, and his name is Gowen. Hearing this name, Simurden turns pale, but does not refuse the order. Nothing escapes Marat’s gaze: at his insistence, the Convention the next day accepts a decree that any commander who releases the enemy captured with weapons in his hands should be beheaded on the guillotine.

In early July, an unfamiliar horseman stops in an inn near the Breton city of Dole. The owner advises the traveler to go around Dol: they fight, and two former ones clashed - the Marquis de Lantenaki Viscount de Gauvin. They are also relatives - Gowen is Lantenac’s great-nephew. While the young Republican is more lucky - he is crowding the old royalist, not allowing him to gain a foothold on the coast. Perhaps everything would have turned out differently if the Marquis had not ordered the shooting of a woman - the mother of three children. He took the children with him, and the surviving soldiers of the Red Hat battalion are now fighting with such frenzy that no one can withstand their onslaught. Thanking the innkeeper, the stranger jumps into Dole and, having fallen into the thick of the battle, takes upon himself the blow of the saber intended for Gauvin. The moved young man recognizes his beloved teacher. Simurden also can not hide his feelings: his cute boy became a man and turned into a true angel of the Revolution. Both long for the Republic to triumph, but embody the two poles of truth: Simurden stands for the republic of terror, and Gauvin for the republic of mercy. However, the young man is as irreconcilable with Lantenac as his former mentor: unlike the ignorant peasants, the Marquis acts quite consciously, and there will be no mercy. After a few weeks, the Vendee rebellion was almost over - the peasants scattered, unable to withstand the regular troops. One of the August days, the siege of the castle of Turg begins, where Lantenac with several associates took refuge. The position of the Marquis is hopeless, and Simurden is looking forward to the arrival of the guillotine from Paris. But in the castle there are three children Michelle the flash player: they are placed on the second floor of the tower, in the library with a massive iron door, and combustible materials are stored on the first and third floors. Then the besieged present an ultimatum: if they are not allowed to leave freely, the hostage children will die. Gauvin sends for the stairs to the nearest village, and Simurden is ready to let go of all the rebels, except Lantenac. The Vendians, having scornfully rejected these conditions, accept a hopeless battle. When they confess, preparing for the inevitable death, the stone in the wall goes aside - the underground passage really exists, and Galmalo arrived in time. The fierce Imanus is called to delay the attackers for a quarter of an hour - this is enough to retreat. Sergeant Radub was the first to break into the castle, but the agonizing Vendee manages to set fire to the wick. Republicans in impotent rage are watching the fire. Lantenac slipped away, and the children will inevitably die: the iron door cannot be cracked, and the second floor cannot be climbed without a ladder - it was burned by peasants who set up an ambush for the guillotine, which reached the castle safely. The most terrible moment comes when the mother sees the doomed children - Michelle Fleshard, the survivor of the shooting, finally found Georgette, Rene-Jean and Gro-Alain. Hearing her bestial cry, Lantenac returns through an underground passage to an iron door, unlocks it with a key and disappears into a puff of flame - after that, the floors collapse with a roar. The old man rescues the children by using the stairs that were in the library, and then he descends himself - right into the hands of Simurden. The marquise awaits a military court (pure formality), and then the guillotine. At night, Gauvin releases Lantenac: a pure young man cannot allow the Republic to stain himself by replying with an act of great sacrifice. The young commander is put on trial: Simurden's voice is decisive, and without hesitation he condemns the young man to death. When Gauvin's head falls under the blow of a guillotine knife, a shot is heard - Simurden has fulfilled his terrible duty, but cannot live after that.