Mr Mazier's first wife died and left him with a virtuous girl ,Francine;alas,he married again ,with a shrew who treats her stepdaughter like Cinderella ;besides she has herself a daughter, Josée,a perverse unscrupulous venal bad girl ;all she wants is to get out of this seedy place and head for the broader horizons of Paris where they made chic shoes .The place where they live is a den of smugglers. .Fortunately for Francine,like Snowwhite ,one day ,her prince comes :those naive smugglers mistake him for one of their "colleagues" ,but 1) he is handsome 2) he is smiling and nice 3) he is dressed up to the nines 4) he takes Francine-Cinderella to the fair .His true role will be revealed at the end of the story.