Lonely Parisian bibliophile Sylvestre Bonnard (O.P. Heggie), reminded of his long-lost love, travels to her old country estate, where he meets his late former paramour's teenage daughter, Jeanne (Anne Shirley). Enchanted by the girl, whose cruel guardian, Mouche (Etienne Girardot), has placed her in a prison-like boarding school, Sylvestre butts heads with the money-hungry Mouche and the school's severe headmistress (Elizabeth Patterson) in an attempt to alleviate his loneliness.