Juan, the only son of the aristocratic Santa Cruz family, began his law studies at the University of Madrid. Castelar's expulsion from his chair provokes student riots, in one of which Juan is arrested and taken to prison, from which he leaves due to the influence of his family.

During the honeymoon, Juan recalls his experiences with Fortunata, gets drunk and admits to Jacinta that the real cause of his torments is his hypocritical behavior with Fortunata. Returning from the trip, Jacinta begins to collaborate in charity work, worries about the lack of pregnancy symptoms and suffers when she finds out that Juan had a child with Fortunata.

One day a strange character arrives at the Santa Cruz house asking for alms and clothes. When he is alone with Jacinta, he lets her know of the existence of a three-year-old boy, the son of her husband and Fortunata. Guillermina, Pacheco and she go down to the realm of misery and hunger.

It's the year 1874. Maxi Rubín is a young pharmacy student who lives with his aunt Doña Lupe. Short of spirit and physically weak, the boy lives subject to the implacable domination of his aunt who, in addition to running the house with a firm hand, acts as a lender.

Maxi Rubin's two brothers respond to their aunt's call. One is a priest, Nicolás, and the other, Juan Pablo, has political ambitions. They deliberate on their little brother's problem and end up giving him a solution. Fortunata enters the Micaelas convent.

After a season, Fortunata and Juan Santa Cruz's relations cool down again. Jacinta has found out about them and gets her husband's promise to say goodbye to the other woman for good. Fortunata, now alone again, accidentally meets an older man, a retired colonel, named Evaristo Feijoo.

Feijoo's conclusion regarding Fortunata's future determines her return to her husband. It is useless to protest. The old colonel feels that his time has come and wants to leave the woman standing firm. This return to abandoned marriage requires a strategy.

Fortunata and her husband live with Doña Lupe in the new house, near the pharmacy where Maxi works. It's been a long time since the last time Fortunata saw Juan Santa Cruz, but he begins to show signs of life, they discreetly get back together again.

The situation at Doña Lupe's house, between her and the Rubin couple, becomes unbearable. Maxi, with lost reason, senses that his wife is expecting a child and says so. Fortunata knows that it is true and has to leave the house. She is going to live with her second aunt at Cava de San Miguel.