In 1820 Morenas family, Madame Morenas and her two sons Pierre and Jean, live in the village Sainte-Marie-des-Maures in southern France. The brother of Madame Morenas, Alexandre Tisserand, owns the only inn of the village, and is helped by his goddaughter Marguerite. The two brothers are carpenters and they don't earn much. Jean is a hard-working man, but the elder brother, Pierre, is a drinker who constantly dreams of leaving abroad to become a gold digger. One day Pierre decides to leave without notice. His mother and brother are sad but there is no pain time cannot heal. Jean and Marguerite plan to get married. One day someone violently robs uncle Alexandre. Before dying Alexandre Tisserand manages to write on a paper that the murderer is his "nephew". Jean claims he is innocent but he is convicted and sentenced to penal servitude. Years later a strange rich man helps him escape and gives him money and papers to flee to Brazil. But Jean cannot leave without visiting his beloved Marguerite in their village. There he will face a tragic dilemma.