On Christmas Eve, Swiss minister Jean Martens takes in a blind, half-crippled orphan and brings her up among his own four children. But Gertrude grows into a woman and Jean gradually falls in love with her without admitting it to himself. On the contrary, he lulls his conscience by interpreting the Scriptures to his advantage. But neither his wife nor his oldest son are fooled. Following a long-delayed operation, Gertrude recovers her sight but she is not long to find out that sin has corrupted the soul of her benefactor.

In the peaceful alpine village of Granges-de-Mortes, a tragedy has just taken place: Gustave Boeuf, the local Casanova, has mysteriously died at the foot of a wayside cross. Shortly afterwards, a peasant, who is suspected of having murdered him, hangs himself from a branch of the calvary. But was he the real culprit? Angélique Barrodet, an old maid , who had been Gustave's fiancée before he abandoned her on the very day of their wedding, leads the investigation in her own way.

A rural maiden's two suitors go off to war, leaving her pregnant.