Fanny plot
Fanny, in love and abandoned, finds out she is pregnant with Marius. Unfortunately, she finds that she will never be able to take care of her and her child. Therefore, with the consent of her mother and César, the child's grandfather, she agrees to marry a wealthy merchant from Vieux-Port, Honoré Panisse, who is thirty years her senior. He recognizes the child and raises it as if it were his own descendant. Panisse gives them prosperity, a good social reputation and ensures a comfortable future. But a few months after the wedding and the birth of the baby, Marius discovers during his long journey that he is still in love with Fanny.