A little girl witnesses the death of her mother--expressly killed through negligence by the woman supposedly nursing the invalid mother back to health. The conniving nurse then marries the child's father, thereby taking the dead woman's place and becoming the little girl's stepmother. After unwisely revealing to the stepmother that she knows the reason for her mother's death, Aurore is abused by her stepmother, who hopes that in torturing the child she can keep her silent. The father, who is absent during the day farming the land, closes his eyes or refuses to believe that his new wife is abusive when confronted by the sight of his miserable burnt and beaten child.