The events of the novel take place in the late XVII century. The story begins with short description of the La Mottes – the family which used to live in Paris in riches and abundance, but which has to leave their good life because Pierre de La Motte, the head of the family, has to escape from his creditors and the persecution of the laws. So, their group: Pierre, his wife, their servants go ahead hoping for some place for safe living. Their son, Louis, serves in the regiment at this time, so he can’t join them.
They keep their way through the desolate lands in order their family doesn’t fall into the hands of the authorities. Once going through the field they stumble upon a house. There they meet the gangsters who give them a very beautiful young woman and order to take her away and not to come back to this house anymore. The La Mottes take her and continue their way. The woman is called Adeline and she tells them her story: when she was a baby her mother died and her father sent her to a monastery, where she lived until recently her father decided to take her from there, and he brought her in this house, where Pierre saw her.
Once, going through the forest, their carriage breaks down and they occur to be alone in the huge forest. But suddenly they notice an abandoned abbey near them. So they decide to stay at least for a night to have a rest after long distance they have overcome and then fix their carriage. This abbey seems to be very dismal and mystical, but they don’t have any other variant there. Their hope to fix their one and only means of transport doesn’t come true and they don’t have any choice but for staying in this abbey. Pierre hunts in the forest, Peter, their servant, takes a horse and having found a village somewhere near the forest, gets them all necessary goods. Actually they understand that they will not find safer place for them, so they settle there. In some time their son, Louis finds them and lives with them during his “vacation”, given in service. He falls in love with Adeline, but she doesn’t answer him the same.
Once a marquis and his soldiers come to them. He says that this abbey is his, but he lets the family to stay here. He visits the house more and more often, he is very courteous, polite, but after this meetings Pierre becomes more and more gloomy and sad.
Adeline is worried with his behavior, because Pierre has become her second father, who seems to love her and is very kind to her. But she is happy to live there: she likes to walk in the forest, enjoy the nature. Once, when she sits in the forest and sing, she notices that a young man stands near her and admiringly looks at her. She falls in love with him, but doesn’t want to admit this. His name is Theodore. He also falls in love with her from the first sight.
Once when the family has a dinner, Peter quietly gives Adeline the sign to go with him. When they stay alone, he says that she is in a huge danger, because Pierre wants to sell her to the marquis. Adeline has already noticed that that man importunately woos her. So Peter and Adeline make up the plan of escape. But marquis buys Peter and the servant tells him this plan. So Adeline gets into hands of her enemy. But here her love – Theodore – appears and saves her. They succeed to overcome some distance, but marquis catches them: Theodore has to come back to his service, where he served, and be punished for the escape from there; as for Adeline, she is refunded to the abbey. Marquis orders Pierre to kill her. But the man isn’t able to do such an awful thing with the pure woman, so he gives her a horse, Peter, who has repented in what he has done with her before, and they escape from the abbey to Peter’s family far from that place.
There, Adeline gets acquainted with a family who lives near Peter’s one and this family takes her as their own daughter. They already have a daughter and a son, who is far from there. But in some time their son comes to them, and he appears to be that Theodore whom Adeline loves. They are happy to be with their lovers together again. As for the La Mottes, when the marquis gets to know that Pierre let Adeline go, he wants to kill them all, but then the true story about him, and his relation to Adeline comes out: he occurs to be her uncle, her father was his elder brother and this marquis killed him. So, as this marquis is accused in murder of his brother and murder attempt of Adeline, he is imprisoned and all the money and lands of these brothers comes to Adeline. So, all the good characters are finally happy and all the bad ones are punished.
