Elderly Spanish nobleman Don Julian is happily married to Teodora, a beautiful young girl, when his protégé, young poet Ernesto, comes to live with them. Vicious gossip spreads false rumors of a love affair between the two young people and the evil Don Alvarez, the most bitter slanderer of all, goads Ernesto into challenging him to a duel. Don Julian, realizing that the youth is no match for one of the best swordsmen in Spain, forces the slanderer into a fight in which Don Alvarez is slain and Don Julian gravely wounded. Ernesto calls upon the dying Don Julian to convince him of his wife's innocence. Misled by his brother Severo, Don Julian believes the youth has come to visit Teodora, denouncing them both before dying, ironically driving Ernesto and Teodora from the house to face the world together.