It's the early 20th century. Belgian beauty Adrienne Boch pursues her dream, a career in the booming world of fashion. Cousin Gregor Steiner attends the officer academy of the Imperial German Navy. Will Marra, an American studying in Paris, meets and falls in love with Adrienne. World War One begins. German troops invade Belgium, causing Adrienne's family to flee to Paris. Gregor, haunted at sea by the sight of hundreds of sailors dying in the sinking of a German cruiser, is selected to captain a U-boat. Will returns to the U.S.A. as the German Army advances toward Paris. Rather than finishing college, Will joins the U.S. Army to learn to fly. Meanwhile, Adrienne establishes a boutique fashion house in Paris. In Central America, Germany secretly recruits a spy while the U.S. arms the Panama Canal as it anticipates entering the war. Adrienne, fearing for Gregor and warming to Will, corresponds with both while considering an offer to lead the fashion department of I. Magnin & Co., the luxury store of San Francisco. As global tension rises, Will, Adrienne, Gregor, and the spy fight for their beliefs. In the riveting conclusion-with life and love in the balance-four lives converge in an unexpected, epic clash.