In 1792 at the Palace of Versailles, Madame de Plonge bets Colombine that she can't seduce the young, handsome Marquis de Bonvie. Lisette suspects that it's all part of a ""setup"" to ruin her mistress and offers to take her place. Columbine learns that her elderly husband, Honore, has caught the pox, and turns it around to her advantage.

Columbine swears that she has been celibate for eight years. How, then, has she managed to get pregnant? Is King Louis XVI the father? What will Marie Antionette think?