In this historical framework Galdós narrates, with an almost tone humorous in its literary presentation and a certain rhythm of the soap opera with a happy ending, the misadventures of the grotesque trio formed by a young orphan besieged by the "sacrilegious passion" of a priest without vocation, and saved by a redeemed Indian and rogue. The love triangle is complemented by the presence of a fourth character, Rosalía Pipaón, note better known as "Bringas's" for being a wife of the modest employee and "aspiring canonry" Francisco de Bringas, representatives of the "I want and I cannot" of the Madrid bourgeoisie of the time. In the deceptively folkloric structure of the novel, Rosalía de Bringas She will officiate as "bad story", trying to seduce the Indian Agustín for one of her daughters, and "pushing the stream" to the sisters Amparo and Refugio.