France, mid-19th century. Church bells ring out in alarm; a monastery is on fire. In the ensuing chaos, a passing rider catches sight of a girl in a first-floor window. The fire has cut off her escape route, so without hesitation she jumps into his outstretched arms. She does not even know the face of her savior. However, he takes her locket with him. Two years later. Two stepbrothers live at Mornay Castle. The heir to the title and estate, the aristocratically refined Raoul, and Philip, a rude, unsociable man with a bad reputation. It is here, to the castle ball, that Mrs. Collier brings her daughter Charlotte, a shy and inexperienced convent girl...
