The main character is Julián Álvarez, a meek, dainty and profoundly religious priest who has been assigned as chaplain to the estate of the marquis of Ulloa, the arrogant Pedro Moscoso.

The marquis' house is almost in ruins, but Don Pedro cares only to go hunting and leaves the day-to-day running of the estate to his majordomo, the sly Primitivo.

Julián is shocked that a nobleman would allow a roguish character such as he to manage his affairs, and is even more perturbed to find that Primitivo's beautiful daughter Sabel is the mother of Don Pedro's illegitimate son, Perucho.

He is initially attracted to the buxom and provocative Rita, who returns his advances, but after a heart-to-heart conversation with Julián he proposes to Marcelina, nicknamed Nucha, a much more meek and modest girl.

Julián also becomes more and more distraught; he notices signs of physical abuse in Nucha and blames himself for having brought this woman, whom he considers saintly and without error, to a remote estate surrounded by people who don't deserve her.

Nucha asks Julián to help her escape back to her father; as they conspire, Primitivo informs Don Pedro of their whereabouts and reinforces a rumor that they might be having an affair.

Televisión Española (TVE), in co-production with Radiotelevisione italiana (RAI), adapted the novel and its sequel to the television series Los pazos de Ulloa, directed by Gonzalo Suárez and premiered in 1985.