Manuela de Fora, an elegant woman, widow of Pajares, lives with the sole obsession of marrying well her two daughters from her second marriage, Concha Blanca Jara and Amparo. She also has Juanito, son from her first marriage, but she despises him for wanting to be a merchant, like his father. Who really appreciates the laborious Juanito is his uncle Juan, a man of austere habits that blames his sister Manuela for wasting money to pretend being of high social position.