Korczyn is a small village on the Neman River in the 1880s. The memory of the January Uprising still lingers. Teofil Różyc, heir to a dwindling fortune and uninterested in work, courts Justyna Orzelska, the attractive niece of Benedykt Korczyński, lord of Korczyn. Years earlier, Justyna had a mutual love with Zygmunt, Benedykt’s nephew, but Zygmunt’s mother opposed the match, fearing a misalliance. Though Benedykt works hard, he faces financial troubles and is estranged from the Bohatyrowicz family—gentry from the backwoods who fought valiantly in the uprising and were once treated as equals to noble families. After the uprising’s failure, the Bohatyrowiczes were reduced to near-peasant status. Justyna falls in love with one of them, Jan Bohatyrowicz.