One San Francisco day in 1874, Joshua Norton, the self-styled Norton I, Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico, sees, and becomes immediately fascinated by, Addie L. Ballou, activist, poet, Spiritualist, painter, and secretly divorced mother of four. He eventually charms her with his lunatic wit, and she is convinced to paint his first Official Imperial Portrait. His ideas for the portrait and hers diverge, and when it becomes apparent that his promise of a fee was not based on his actually having it to give her, the project is doomed. But good hearts triumph. (The painting hangs today in the library of San Francisco's Society of California Pioneers.)