Margerite von Hirschenberg, daughter of a poor knight, is courted and wedded by Graf Ruprecht von Falkenstein, a handsome young man far above her own station. But she soon finds that her idyllic marriage is not so perfect as it seems. Most of Ruprecht's servants and vassals are oddly frightened of him; the household accounts are in bad disarray; and Margerite is badly unnerved by Bertram, the ominous captain of Ruprecht's guard, who seems to dislike her. Soon Ruprecht declares an illegal feud against his closest neighbor, Graf Heinrich, hiring a Free Company of mercenaries for the battle.