As a religious man, the pastor takes the Bible very seriously and tries to preserve Gertrude's innocence by protecting her from the concept of sin.

Gertrude eventually gets an operation to repair her eyesight and, having gained the ability to see, realizes that she loves Jacques and not the pastor.

The work was made into a film in 1946 by Jean Delannoy, with Michèle Morgan in the principal role as Gertrude.

The pastor treats the love that Jacques feels for Gertrude as a sin without taking into account that he himself, as a married man and a religious figure, has profound emotional sentiments for a young girl, whom he adopted almost as a daughter.

He also fails to take into account the fact that, as a pastor, he would inevitably be viewed by his congregation to be someone who should present himself as an example of strong virtues and high moral values.