Vianne and le Comte de Reynaud:

Vianne and Paul de Reynaud are on opposite sides of the battle for the hearts and souls of the people of Lansquenet. Vianne has blown into the town, on the north wind, with her young daughter. Vianne is a wanderer, a peddler of sensual temptations, a gipsy. The Comte has lived his whole life in Lansquenet. He has pride in his ancestors and traditions of service and control. His equilibrium is threatened by Vianne's laxity and more, by the effect she has on the usually obedient townspeople.

To make things worse, Vianne refuses to attend church. The Catholic church is Reynaud's particular possession, using it to enforce his rules, his mores and his beliefs, though the person of the timid priest, Pere Henri. Reynaud gathers the most repressed and disapproving to his side, while Vianne recruits the outcast, the rebellious and the free spirited to hers. Including Roux, the Irish river gypsy.

When Vianne rescues Josephine Muscat from her abusive husband, Reynaud attempts to wrest back control by forcing Serge Muscat to try to woo her back. Josephine had suffered for a long time and her distress was largely ignored by the pious Comte. Until Vianne offers her a refuge and a chance to win back her independence and pride. This strikes at Reynaud's secret fear: that everyone will realise that the absent Comtesse is not going to return to Lansquenet or her husband.

Reynaud's own life is not as ordered and serene as he would like everyone to believe. Nor is Vainne as heartwhole as she thinks. Falling in love with Roux forces her to consider putting down roots for the first time, to belong to one place and to stop following in the wake of the north wind.