Martha's Vindication

Following the death of her fiance and the birth of her baby, Dorothea, to avoid even the hint of a scandal, gives the child to her best friend Martha, who has arranged to have the infant raised by her old nurse. Soon, having kept her child a secret, Dorothea marries Deacon Hunt, while Martha becomes engaged to John. When unconscionable Sell Hawkins remembers having seen Martha bring the baby to the nurse, accuses her, before the church congregation, of being an unwed mother. Dorothea remains silent, and Martha, hoping to protect her friend, refuses to tell the truth about the child. Just as Martha's guilt seems assured, however, the child is brought to the church with an injury, and when a concerned Dorothea rushes to the infant, her actions and expression betray her own secret.