Font-aux-cabres is the name of an Andalusian village, benefiting the Commander of the Order of Calatrava, who supports Juana Beltraneja, the pretender to the throne of Castile, against the Catholic Monarchs. The Commander's tyranny is felt throughout the country, subjecting village women and girls to his whims by threat or violence. Laurencia, who dares to refuse him, is kidnapped on her wedding day, and her fiancé Frondoso is imprisoned.

Lord Windermere appears to all – including to his young wife Margaret – as the perfect husband. But their happy marriage is placed at risk when Lord Windermere starts spending his afternoons with an adventuress who is working her way through London’s high society, Mrs. Erlynne.