Not the Jane Austen heroine. This Emma (Dressler) is hired as housekeeper/nanny to widow Frederick Smith's (Hersholt) children, spending 20 years looking after them until Smith proposes marriage while Emma takes a vacation in Niagara Falls. He dies shortly thereafter, leaving Emma his money, and three of the children she's looked after suddenly turn on her, accusing her of murdering their father for the inheritance. A trial ensues.