Veronica (Catherine McCormack) is brilliant, gifted and beautiful, but the handsome aristocrat she loves, Marco Venier (Rufus Sewell), cannot marry her because she is penniless and of questionable family. So Veronica's mother, Paola (Jacqueline Bisset), teaches her to become a courtesan, one of the exotic companions favored by the richest and most powerful Venetian men. Veronica courageously uses her charms to change destiny -- and to give herself a chance at true love.