Emma

After his wife passes away in childbirth, inventor Frederick Smith looks to Emma Thatcher, his housekeeper and nanny, to add the motherless newborn and three older children to her charge. She performs this job faithfully for 32 years, over which time one of Smith's patents makes him a millionaire. As the decades go by, his children grow to adulthood under her nurturing care. They enjoy all the advantages that great wealth brings as Isabelle marries a count and Ronnie, the youngest and Emma's favorite, buys his own plane and realizes his dream to be a pilot. With all the children grown, Emma decides to take her first vacation, but she and Smith realize that he and the family could not do without her nurturing care, so he impulsively asks her to marry him, and her trip to the Niagara Falls turns into their honeymoon. Unfortunately, Smith succumbs to a heart attack upon their return. The family lawyer discloses that Smith, not trusting his offsprings' maturity, has left control of his estate to Emma, who as executrix would allocate the distribution of the money to her stepchildren. Emma modestly rejects the provision and believes that the money should go directly to the Smith children. However, when three of them accuse her of greed and avaricious motives, she angrily throws them out of the house. Ronnie remains loyal to his de facto mother, but while he is out of the country, his vindictive siblings go to the district attorney with circumstantial evidence, and Emma finds herself facing charges of murder.