1570, the era of civil wars in France, bloody clashes between Catholics and Huguenots. For the previous ten years, the leaders of the warring parties have died. In Saint Germain there is a peace for which the sister of King Charles IX, Princess Margarita, is married to Heinrich of Navarre. This marriage is equally amazing and indignant fighters in both countries. At court, something is out of place! More recently, Admiral Coligny was sentenced to death in absentia, a generous reward was assigned to the king for his head, and now the king calls him the father in the Louvre and entrusts him with command of the combined forces in the upcoming campaign in Flanders.

King Henry of Navarre speaks to his young wife. Their marriage is a political union, they are indifferent to each other. Henry is in love, not without reciprocity, with Ms. de Sov, wife of the Secretary of State; Margarita has her heart secrets. But this is a marriage of two honest and pure-hearted people - so why shouldn't they be allies? Margarita promises Henry to support him to the end.

These days, an intrigue is rapidly developing in the palace, the inspiration of which is Catherine of Siena, the Dowager Queen, who hates the Huguenots. The patience of the opponents was barely enough for a week: an assassination attempt is being prepared on Admiral Coligny. King Charles IX entrusts this case to Morwell, an officer in the squad of firecrackers. Rumors of new bloody feuds spread throughout the kingdom. Two young nobles arrive in Paris overnight: Count Lerac de La Moli, a Huguenot, with letters to King Henry and Admiral Coligny, and Count Annibal de Coconnas, Catholic, with a secret message to the Duke de Guise, the fierce enemy of Coligny. Having settled in the Hotel “Guiding Star”, young people quickly get closer and tell each other at a card game that at night they both have very important audiences in the Louvre. It was a night - from August 24 to 25 - the night of St. Bartholomew, the bloody night of beating the Huguenots.

Drawn into the slaughter, La Molle and Coconnas turn their weapons against each other. alas, La Molle is lonely, and Coconnas - at the head of a detachment of Catholic soldiers. Bleeding La Molle escapes the chase in the chambers of Queen Margarita of Navarre. However, Coconnas is seriously injured - and he finds shelter in the house of Margarita's closest friend, Duchess Anrietta of Nevers. The slogans of the warring camps, two beauties in love with the soldiers they saved, are opposed by their motto: “Eros-Cupido-Amor”.

To Margot, after a terrible night, is her brother, the Duke of Alanson. What happened, he says, is just a prologue to the great upheavals. King Charles is sick, he is suffering from seizures. The defeat of the Huguenots made the de facto ruler of Guise. Marriage with a Huguenot is now reprehensible, and out of time, you can still replay. Margot refuses to betray her husband. She clearly saw the troubles threatening her and Henry: Charles IX did not prevent the slaughter conceived by the Queen Mother and de Guise; Guise and her brother Francois, the Duke of Alanson, are ready to derive as many benefits as possible from the spilled blood; as soon as the king of Navarre becomes — and everything is inclined to — his possessions will be seized, and she, the widow, will be sent to the monastery. Madame de Owls informs Margot of the highest command to appoint Heinrich of Navarre a meeting in her chambers: she suspects that this is a provocation and they want to kill him. Margarita hides her husband in her bedroom, where he is surprised and indignant when the Queen Mother discovers this fraud. What embarrassment: the Huguenot king does not sleep with his mistress, but with his legal wife! He is impeccable - and she has nothing to blame him. After her departure, Margarita introduces Henry hidden in one of the neighboring rooms of La Mola. The young man belatedly transmits a letter to the king warning him of mortal danger. Ah, if the king had not been busy at the time when La Moliet first arrived at the Louvre, the history of France could have been different! .. Queen Margot’s beloved sleep that night in her bed at the feet of her king’s wife - like his comrade unfortunately, a loyal subject and a new friend, but not a rival in love.

Dowager Queen Catherine is furious. Everything - and the events of last night, and the predictions of the sorcerer Rene - against her will, against her passionate desire to get rid of Heinrich of Navarre. Another gamble is failing: the poisoned lipstick sent by her to Ms. de Sov, deadly for the beauty and for her frequent guest, Henry, for some reason doesn’t work (Catherine is not aware that at the last minute Maitre Rene himself replaced the sinister bottle with another, quite harmless). The Queen Mother cannot reconcile with her son-in-law even his conversion to Catholicism.

He accepts Catholicism at the same time as his king and La Moll: he vowed to accept the faith of the deceased mother in the event of a miraculous deliverance from death. He and Coconnas was cured of his wounds by the same master Rene — and yesterday’s enemies are becoming inseparable friends, whose union is sealed by the tender feelings of their beautiful ladies, Margarita and Anrietta. La Molle is still not able to believe that the most beautiful of the queens answered his love. The friends turn for the final answer to the clairvoyant Rene. There is no doubt: Margot loves La Mola as passionately as he does her. The proof is a waxing fortune-telling figure in a crown and mantle with a heart pierced by a sharp needle, Like an icon, La Moll hides this doll in itself - the image of Margarita of Navarre, whom he adores ...

In Paris, de Mouy, the head of the Huguenots, seeking political revenge. Having overheard his conversation with Henry, the Duke of Alanson is trying to convince de Mouy that he is a more worthy candidate for the throne when he becomes empty after the death of his brother Charles. In order to make it easier for de Moui to enter the Louvre, the Duke of Francois advises him to sew the same cherry parade ground as that of Margarita's favorite, La Mola. Henry is alarmed: someone again stood in his way, and he knows who. Behind Francois, his mother’s figure is clearly visible. He is not mistaken: right now, in the office of King Charles, the queen mother, frightened by the news of the appearance of the de Louvre in the Louvre, forces her son to issue a decree on the arrest of Henry, instructing Morwell to capture him, alive or dead.

The next day, Karl has to regret his decree: while hunting, Henry saves him from the fangs of a boar. Thus, the King of Navarre not only saved the life of a man, but also prevented the change of sovereigns in the three kingdoms, but most importantly, he saved his life for himself and Margot. Henry confidentially talks with the Duke of Alansons: de Mouy offered him a conspiracy against Charles - he rejected these proposals. But de Moui will not calm down, he will look in the other direction, for example at Prince Conde ... or at someone else. Francois turns pale: it seems that Henry unraveled the evil intentions of him and his mother. He ardently persuades the King of Navarre to become the head of the Huguenot movement to guide him. The Huguenots trust Henry, King Charles loves him, Francois himself has already prepared an act on his abdication of the succession in his favor: “Fate is in your hands!” The interlocutors shake hands - at this moment Ekaterina Sienskaya enters the room. Hypocritically touching the handshake of the brothers-kings, she inwardly triumphs over the victory over Henry. At night, Morwell bursts in with his guards and stumbles upon de Mouy. Two guards killed, Morwell seriously injured. The incident becomes another palace scandal. In fact, Henry owed his salvation not only to the leader of the Huguenots, but also to the king of Catholics: Karl led him away from the palace late at night. He decided to entrust his secret to Henry - to introduce the charming Marie Touche and their illegitimate son. Something funny happened to them on the way. They met on one of the dark streets the Duke of Guise and the Duke of Anjou (brother of Charles and Francois, the king of Poland at five minutes) lead them to the house, where, according to them, a meeting of two very magnificent ladies with two gentlemen entering the Louvre takes place (speech , of course, we are talking about Margarita and Henrietta, having dinner with La Mola and Coconnas). The attempt to break into the house is decisively rebuffed: pots, basins and eat from the windows from the windows of the king and his retinue ...

Returning to the palace, Henry learns of the night prowess of de Mouy. However, the Duke of Alanson inspires him with suspicion that it could be La Moth: the brave man who nearly killed Morwell was wearing a cherry cloak. King of Navarre hurries to his wife: “A terrible suspicion hangs over our friend!” “This is not possible: he was in a different place at night.” Margot falls at his mother’s feet: “La Moll is innocent. He spent this night with me. If he is arrested, he will have to admit it. ” “Calm down, my daughter,” replies Queen Catherine. “I stand guard over your honor!”

It becomes clear to the Queen Mother: La Moll does not separate her daughter from Henry, on the contrary, he is their ally. The duke of Alanson, at the instigation of his mother, invites La Mola to him - and lies in wait with several faithful people in the gloom of the corridor. The King of Navarre guesses the idea, he warns La Mola about the danger and advises him to hide. Having entered into a conspiracy with de Mouy, La Molay prepares to join the Huguenots, watching from a safe distance for her lover, who goes out on a date with him “in Spanish” every evening on the balcony of the palace.

Mater Renee bewitches the Queen Mother, predicting the imminent death of her son Karl - a violent death. Making some other predictions, Renee incidentally tells Queen Catherine about fortune-telling on the subject of Margarita at the request of La Mola. We must hurry to break all the knots: in Paris - the Polish ambassadors who arrived for the coronation of the Duke of Anjou, she is obliged to ensure the future of her sons! At her request, the master Rene impregnates with poison the old manual on falconry, which she instructs to transfer to the King of Navarre. But this book is in the hands of Charles IX. Terminally ill king arranges falconry. De Mouy, La Molle and Coconnas are waiting for King Henry in the forest to escape to the Huguenot camp. This plan was foiled by the Duke of Alanson, who was initiated into a conspiracy and at the decisive moment refused to keep company with Henry.

La Moli and Coconnas in the fortress. There, King Charles also concludes Henry: this is the only way to save his life, in prison he is at least guarded. Interrogations of captured captives begin. One of the evidence of La Mola's evil intentions is a wax doll in royal regalia. The letter “M” in place of the heart pierced by a needle means, of course, “death” (morte)! La Molle cannot reject this accusation: Queen Margarita, his divine lover, must remain beyond suspicion. Two friends have their heads chopped off. Having received them from the hands of the executioner, Margarita and Henrietta irrigate them with tears ...

The death hour is near and Charles IX. He finally suspects that his illness is the result of poisoning, that his mother poisoned him, and that his younger brother gave him the poison. He calls to himself the gracious Anrio, king of Navarre, and announces a decision to declare him regent and heir to the throne until the return of the Duke of Anjou from Poland. If the Duke of Anjou and disputes the power of Henry - the latter will be able to present the Pope’s letter of his rights (the letter is on the way). The Duke of Alanson should be imprisoned in the fortress, the Queen Mother - exiled to the monastery. The dying Carl announces his will to his mother and brother Francois. On the way to Paris, a detachment of Huguenots led by de Mouy. Everything suggests that Henry is the king of France! However, the Huguenots are ahead of the train of the Duke of Anjou: he was notified by his mother that his brother Karl was dying, and hastened, having left Poland, to arrive at the Louvre to inherit the crown.

The Queen Mother rejoices: at least one of the gloomy prophecies of the master Rene did not come true! She makes the last attempt to eliminate Henry by dictating to Morwell a letter addressed to the State Counselor de Sauve: his wife is at the Guiding Star Hotel in the company of a dandy from among his friends. What was allowed to Henry under King Charles is not permissible under King Henry III, the namesake and rival of King of Navarre in the struggle for the throne. The calculation is simple: a jealous husband will rush to a meeting place - and the lover whom he has endured for so many years will be killed! De Mui and two of his officers are standing guard at the door of the hotel. Henry, warned of danger, jumps out of the window and breaks. De Mouy persecutes Morwell, who came with the guards to mark Mr. de Sauvil for the offended honor, and kills him. Returning to the hotel, Henry sees a dying Charlotte: she was stabbed by a knife following Morwell's husband.

Among those who arrived in time from the palace to the scene of the atrocity is the master Rene. Henry, shocked by what had happened, ready to leave Paris again, exclaims: “And you said that I would become king ?! I am an unhappy exile ?! ” “No, sire, this is not me saying. She says that! ” - and Maitre Rene points to a star in the gleam of black clouds, announcing the coming glorious King of France and the beautiful Queen Margarita, who does not love him, but is infinitely faithful to him ...