In 1956 Paris, a young orphaned girl named Madeline attends a Catholic boarding school with eleven other girls, taught by the strict yet loving nun Miss Clavel and fed by the passionate chef Hélène. Despite having neither a family nor money, Madeline maintains a positive, yet mischievous attitude. One night, Madeline is stricken with appendicitis and taken to the hospital, where she undergoes an appendectomy. During her stay there, Madeline bonds with Lady Covington, the terminally ill wife of the school's board of trustees member, Lord Covington. Unlike her husband, Lady Covington cares deeply for the school and the girls, having attended herself as a girl. Lady Covington reveals she carved her birth name, Marie Gilbert, into one of the dorm's bed frames and asks Madeline to find out if her name is still there. A few days later, when Madeline leaves the hospital, she learns that Lady Covington has died. True to her promise, she finds Lady Covington's name and adds her own.