A young worker enjoying an affair with an upper class beauty, Adelaida, is drafted by the Spanish Army to fight in the Cuban War of Independence. After Adelaida receives an unusual announcement regarding her lover's death in combat, she refuses to believe the loss of her lover. Her class-conscious family, led by her jealous sister Maria, believes that Adelaida has lost her mind and places Adelaida in an insane asylum. However, Adelaida continues to to live according to her beliefs of passion and freedom. Fellow "inmates" tell her about the wood-nymphs which inhabit the adjacent forest. Adelaida is convinced these nymphs will lead her to her lover and to happiness.