The wife takes with her their small daughter, leaving the son to the care of the father. The forlorn woman wanders into a fishing village, and is taken into a kindly fisherman's family. To more surely separate herself from the world that knows her. She assumes her maiden name. Many years afterward the father and the son, now grown, pass through the village. The son becomes acquainted with his own sister, knowing nothing of the relationship, and falls in love with her. He persuades his father to spend his season at a summer resort nearby. Later, the son and the daughter are secretly married. The girl leaves a note for her mother, telling her of the act. The mother follows to the parsonage, and then the summer resort, where she overtakes the couple. The mother recognizes the father, and the young couple are told the horrifying news. Distracted, the girl runs away. After upbraiding his parent, the boy seeks out his father. Together they solve the tragic question which confronts them. Hand in hand they walk into the illimitable ocean until they are covered by the water.