It was the third book by the author about the position of women in Brazil's 19th century Rio de Janeiro society (the other two being Diva and Lucíola), published under the pseudonym G.M.
Aurélia Camargo, daughter to a poor family, falls in love with an ambitious man named Fernando Seixas, to whom she had been engaged.
Nevertheless, Fernando ends up breaking up the relationship, wanting to marry into a wealthy estate instead, deciding for a certain Adelaide Amarala, from whose father he would be given a large dowry according to the law.
After the death of Aurelia's father, however, Aurélia receives a large inheritance from her grandfather (of whom she wasn't aware of having been wealthy), thus rising in social rank.
Thus, torn between the love she feels and her injured pride, she then places her uncle Lemos in charge of an offer negotiation to Fernando Seixas that includes a large amount of money intended for him to marry her.