Katariina ja Munkkiniemen kreivi

In 1860, the young Count Mauritz Armborg and Katariina, daughter of a farmhand on the family estate, are drawn to each other. Their attraction is opposed by Countess Yvonne Armborg, who begins to obstruct the romance with schemes and pressure. The setup foreshadows a clash between love and social authority.

Mauritz and Katariina decide to elope, planning a journey to Copenhagen and Rome. To counter Katariina's prospects with the lovers, Countess Yvonne offers to finance Katariina's dowry if she marries Elias. She also introduces the young count to Ingeborg Liliecrona, though Mauritz is not drawn to her.

The lovers meet at an inn and spend the evening together. At dawn, Mauritz leaves Katariina an old family heirloom, a necklace. A servant to Yvonne informs her of the lovers' plans, foreshadowing future obstacles.

Before they can travel together to Copenhagen, the lovers are intercepted and Katariina is escorted back home. Mauritz continues toward Copenhagen, left to face the unknown alone. The interruption deepens the rift between their plans and the family interference.

Unhappy at the separation, Katariina attempts suicide by jumping off a cliff, but Elias saves her. She then agrees to marry Elias to secure her future. This turning point binds her to Elias and shifts the future of Mauritz and Katariina.

Mauritz reaches Copenhagen where a severe illness confines him for several weeks. Ingeborg travels to Copenhagen, meets Mauritz, and falsely tells him that Katariina will arrive in Rome with Countess Yvonne. Her deception helps shape Mauritz's hopes and misunderstandings.

Mauritz continues to Rome, believing Katariina's fate is unfolding as he had imagined. Countess Yvonne travels alone to Rome and informs Mauritz that Katariina has married Elias, leaving him distraught and abandoned by hope.

Katariina and Elias move to the lower-income Katajanokan district, where she gives birth to a son named Mauritz. Elias promises to treat the child as his own, binding their fragile family to a shared future despite social constraints.

Seven years pass and Mauritz and Ingeborg are married, but the Count remains unhappy due to his enduring love for Katariina. Finland endures famine and plague toward the end of the decade, intensifying hardship and separation.

Katariina writes a letter of intent to gain admission for her son into a good school, but the application fails because Elias's lower social station blocks the path. The incident underscores how class barriers shape the destinies of both Katariina and Mauritz's family.

One day, young Mauritz disappears from sight. Katariina finds him at the governor's wife Elisabeth Gerhard's house, whose own son has died. Elisabeth offers to take care of Mauritz, and Katariina initially objects but changes her mind after the losses she has faced.

Elias dies of the plague, and Katariina entrusts young Mauritz to Elisabeth's care. Elisabeth and the boy travel to Rome, where Mauritz meets Count Mauritz and realises through the necklace that the boy is Katariina's son and thus the Count's own son, rekindling a hidden kinship.

Count Mauritz and young Mauritz return to Munkkiniemi to a solemn welcome after the failed union with Ingeborg. Countess Yvonne repents of her schemes and meets the boy, sensing the kinship that the necklace confirms. Katariina learns of her son's return and prepares for a long-awaited reconciliation.

In a park where they once shared memories, Count Mauritz sings the Romance they used to share. Katariina happens to be in the park and hears him, and the estranged couple finally reunites. He asks her to come home with him to their home, sealing their long-awaited reunion.