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In a rural Louisiana parish before the abolition of slavery, Madame Valmondé is traveling to see her adopted daughter, Désirée, and her new grandson. Unable to have children of her own, Madame Valmondé was thrilled years previously when her husband found a lost or perhaps abandoned little girl by the entrance of their plantation. They raised the child as their daughter, and when she was eighteen years old, Armand Aubigny, who grew up on a neighboring plantation, fell in love with the girl he had known through childhood. Armand had lived in Paris for eight years and came to L’Abri, the family’s plantation, after his mother died. The childhood friends married, were happily in love, and soon welcomed a baby boy to increase their joy.
On the day the story begins, Madame Valmondé arrives at L’Abri, noting its run-down condition, and is amazed at how much the baby has changed since she last saw him. While Désirée excitedly praises everything about the baby—his size and his strong voice, which Armand reports having heard while he was at the cabin of one of the enslaved women, La Blanche—her mother looks closely at the child and even carries him to better light by the window as his nurse, Zandrine, stands by but looks away. Désirée speaks of Armand’s pride in his son and heir, of how the baby’s coming has changed her husband so that he is less moody, gentler with her, and less cruel to the enslaved workers on the plantation. Because he is happy, Désirée, whose moods are inextricably tied to his, is also happy.
But Désirée’s own mood darkens when the baby is about three months old. She senses a vague threat that she does not understand. She hears whispers among the enslaved men and women and becomes aware that neighbors who do not usually visit L’Abri are dropping by more often than usual. Worse still, Armand’s demeanor has changed, and he seeks excuses to avoid the house, his wife, and his son. He has resumed harsh treatment of the plantation’s enslaved population as well. Désirée is mystified and distraught.
On a hot afternoon, still in her dressing-gown, she watches the baby nap as La Blanche’s son, a servant who is of mixed race, fans the baby. A chill comes over Désirée as she realizes that her son looks much like La Blanche’s son, who has one Black grandparent and three white grandparents. Disturbed, she catches Armand as he enters the bedroom to get some notes, and he confirms that, clearly, their son is not white. Neither, he declares, is she. Désirée protests, pointing to her fair features, but Armand coldly states that La Blanche also has fair features. He leaves, and in a panic Désirée writes her mother to learn the truth. Her mother’s reply begs her to come home with the baby, but Désirée will not leave unless Armand tells her to do so. Brusquely and cruelly, he tells her to go.
Désirée does go. She takes the baby and, dressed in a thin gown and slippers, walks across stubbled fields that tear her gown and hurt her feet. She walks toward the bayou and is never seen again.
A few weeks later, Armand orders several enslaved workers to burn the baby’s clothing and furniture, his wife’s fine clothes and accessories, and a tiny stack of letters she wrote him when they were engaged. In the drawer where the letters were kept, one letter remains—from his mother to his father, thanking God that events have occurred that will prevent him from ever knowing that she was a Black woman. Why Armand keeps the letter in the drawer is unclear as the story closes.
