During the Consulate of the future Emperor Napoleon I, Celeste, a warm-hearted libertine who has taken Victor, the wild child of the Aveyron, into her care, falls in love with a mysterious scientist involved in a plot against Napoleon.

Paris, 1801, the best of times in France under the ambitious Consul Bonaparte. Young, exquisite, intellectually curious and close to scientific circles, Celeste takes on the education of Victor, the wild child of the Aveyron. Frankly libertine, she intends to take advantage of her youth, yet sometimes dreams of meeting the love of her life cloud her carefree existence. One night, at a masked ball, Celeste encounters a man in disguise whose voice enchants her. She is suddenly obsessed with seducing the stranger, who, she discovers, is Tiburce Battisti, a scientist on mission for Napoleon in Egypt. She finds great happiness with Tiburce, but he suffers from a bizarre malady, and Celeste is concerned for his welfare. She is preoccupied as well by the mysterious coded letters from a correspondent he refuses to identify. Soon, a number of crimes are committed involving his entourage. Even if it means losing the man she loves, Celeste decides she must unravel these enigmas. She begins an investigation that leads her to the young Consul Napoleon, on the brink of his conquest of Europe. With danger at hand, Celeste will find a precious source of aid in Victor, the wild child.