The Masterwork of Charles Brabin: Decoding Babette

Babette is living with her father, the jailer and hangman in the castle-jail at La Fourche. Raveau, a criminal, comes to the castle and meets her. Her sweetness and purity cause him to realize his form of life is an empty shell. He even restores a necklace purloined from a tourist. Later he and Babette realize their love for each other. Their wedding is celebrated with much pomp. Guinard, a detective, turns up. Realizing his danger, Raveau convinces his wife that their friends are planning to separate them, and gets her to escape with him. They elude Guinard. In Montmartre, Raveau and Babette are like two doves. He again takes up art. But his work is not up to date and he finds the purse growing slimmer. When Babette shyly confesses that there will be another mouth to feed, and that she has given much of their store to Fifine, a "Quarter" girl, whose husband is just coming from prison, Raveau realizes how desperate is his need. He tries once more to sell his wares, without success. An appeal to an old partner brings a turn-down. Raveau then steals banknotes from a man in the post office. Guinard turns up after the baby is born. Without letting Babette know of his crime, Raveau parts from her, saying he has a commission which may take him away for a long time, but in the Commissionaire's office he learns his prosecutor is the husband of a woman to whom he had restored the money won at a gaming salon just before his marriage. The man refuses to recognize Raveau as the thief and he returns to Babette to say he has passed up the commission and will stay with her always, and Babette is happy in her husband's love, ignorant of his sacrifice for her.