Set during the insurgency of 1863, the story focuses on a tragic romance between a poor gentlewoman and a rebel noble. After a bloody battle a unit of insurgents have been wiped out and only one survived, but badly wounded. He eventually finds shelter and care from a landsteward's daughter, hiding in a burned-out manor with an old servant.

A young doctor from the lower classess is helped in his career by a rich woman. When he comes back from study in Paris he takes a job at a watering spa. He comes up against the owners when he tries to help the poor.

A beautiful Polish girl whose lover has gone to Rome to seek a divorce from his previous wife travels around Europe in search of him and suffers a variety of tragic adventures as the men around her try to fit her into their own selfish schemes.

In 1912, Szczebieniew, a rich and ailing old man, comes to Italy with his young wife, Zinaida. Bored with his company, she looks for amusement and casual affairs.

Set in the time of Napoleon wars, shows how the wars swept over the unfortunate Polish country at the beginning of the XIX-th century. Story revolves around the Polish legion under command of General Dabrowski, who then fought on Napoleon's side with the hopes of Poland's revival.