The story begins with Fernando's return to the town where he spent his adolescence. He is accompanied by his friend, his fiancée Cristina and her mother, Mrs. Lopez. Once they arrive in town, while Cristina and her mother make the preparations for the marriage, Fernando and his friend go to the cemetery, where they meet an old woman, poorly dressed and neglected, called mother Maria, who asks him about her daughter Teresa. 
When he returns to the house he tells his friend what had happened with Teresa, who was his girlfriend ten years ago, but because of an illness he suffered, she contracted the disease that caused a high fever and caused her death.