Leonard, a young widow, is faithful to the memory of her late husband. She spends entire days in prayer and reading pious books, not allowing any of the admirers and seekers of her hand to come to her. There are many of them: the beauty of Leonarda is famous throughout Valencia no less than its impregnability and arrogance. The relative of the young woman, Lucensio, is making efforts to persuade Leonard to remarry, especially since there are no shortages of worthy suitors. But she indignantly refuses. The arguments of Lucensio, who claims that even if Leonard decided to devote the rest of her life to her husband’s memory, people will never believe this and will begin to say that the widow distinguishes one of the servants with her favor.
Among the most faithful and persistent fans of the widow, three stand out - Ogon, Valerio and Lisandro, each of whom is notable, rich and handsome. They are not looking for anything but the love of a young woman, but their torment leaves Leonard indifferent. Each of these young people tried to break the woman’s stubbornness by spending nights under her windows, but they decide to continue to seek Leonarda’s attention. And Leonarda, resolutely rejecting all the fans, suddenly meets an unfamiliar young man in the church, who immediately falls madly in love. The woman immediately forgets about her good intentions to remain faithful to her husband's memory and sends her servant Urban to find out the name and address of the stranger. Posing as a representative of one of the religious brotherhoods, recruiting supporters, Urban easily fulfills this assignment and immediately receives the following: to go to Camilo - that's the name of the young man - after dressing in an outlandish outfit and stocking up with a mask in order to say that the noble sighs lord who wants to remain unrecognized. Then you should make a young man a date at night at the Royal Bridge and, putting a hood on his head — so that he couldn’t see the road — lead him to Leonard, who will receive the guest in the twilight. Such ingenuity, prompted by love, amazes not only Leonarda herself, but also her servants, Urban and devoted Martha.
Urban is sent to carry out a delicate errand. At first, Camilo is discouraged by mystery and is very doubtful whether to accept such an invitation. But Urban manages to convince the young man that, despite the darkness - and it goes without saying that the meeting will take place in complete darkness - the sound of the voice of a mysterious stranger, the touch of her hand will help Camilo understand how beautiful the lady whose peace he embarrassed. Camilo surrenders to the onslaught and arguments of Urban and promises to come at the appointed time to the Royal Bridge.
Meanwhile, Leonard and Martha are making preparations for a night date, carefully curtaining all the windows with heavy curtains, decorating the room with velvet and carpets. Leonard is very worried: would Camilo change his mind at the last minute, because such a handsome husband should be spoiled by female love, and besides, he might find it humiliating that they would lead him on a secret meeting, like a thief. But at the appointed hour, Camilo comes to the Royal Bridge, where Urban is already waiting for him. Putting a hood on a young man, the servant leads him, like a blind man, to the house of his mistress. On the way, they meet Ogon, who seeks the favor of a beautiful widow, but Urban shows resourcefulness and gives Camilo a drunk who, as a child, must be led by the hand.
Once in Leonarda's room, Camilo begs the stranger to turn on the light; she is at first implacable, but then surrenders before the sophistication of Camilo’s speeches and orders to bring fire - here the night visitor with amazement discovers that all those present - Leonard, Martha, Urban - are masked. However, now he can appreciate the grace of Leonarda's figure, the splendor of her outfit, and the sophistication of the decoration of the room. Having explained that she is a woman of a “very special warehouse”, Leonard begs her guest to accept her rules of the game - if she knows him better, she will not be so secretive. But if Camilo’s sophisticated manners and the grace of his speeches make a great impression on Leonard, then Urban strongly dislikes this man for the same reason: the young man seems too servant and refined to the servant. Since Camilo does not know the name of his beautiful lady, he comes up with her, and at the same time everyone present names. So Leonard becomes Diana, Martha becomes Irida, and Urban becomes Mercury. In such conversations, time flies by, begins to grow light, and, putting on a visitor’s hood, Urban escorts him to the Royal Bridge.
That same night, at the door of the beautiful widow, Oton, Valerio and Lisandro clothed in cloaks again collide. One and the same thought gnaws at all of them: if Leonarda is so impregnable, there must be some explanation for this, and, without a doubt, if the widow is not seen in love affairs, then she hides her lover in her house. Young people decide that only Urban can be such a lover, and decide to trap him and kill him.
Time passes; dates Camilo and Leonarda continue. The woman is still hiding her real name from him, but despite this, despite the fact that all the dates take place in the twilight, Camilo passionately falls in love with this woman. He tells about this on a country outing to his servant Floro. Here, not far away, the stroller with which Leonard descends stops. She is accompanied by faithful Marta. Camilo and Floro appreciate the beauty of the widow; Camilo lavishes the courtesies of Leonardo, but admits to her that he is passionately in love with a woman whose faces he has never seen, and resolutely rejects even Leonarda’s assumption that he could forget about his love for the sake of someone else. When Leonard leaves, Floro reproaches his master that he was indifferent to the charms of the woman, but Camilo very disparagingly speaks of the beauty of Leonarda. At this moment, Urban runs in, pursued by Valerio, Ogon and Lisandro. Camilo intercedes for him and saves the servant of Leonarda, not suspecting that this is his nightly guide.
Before Camilo met Leonarda, he was in love with Selya, who cannot survive adultery and continues to pursue the young man with her love. She lies in wait for him on the street and, showering reproaches for ingratitude, begs her to return to her. Camilo tries to get rid of the annoying woman, but then Leonard and Martha appear nearby. Watching this scene, the meaning of which is clear even without words, the widow experiences burning torments of jealousy. She finds an opportunity to speak with a young man when he is left alone, but he, wanting to get rid of her, begins to squander her compliments and even says that he is ready for her to forget his Diana, whose face he did not even see. Leonard is shocked by Camilo's betrayal and decides to break up with him that night.
Meanwhile, Lucensio, who feels responsible for the fate of Leonarda, although her stubborn unwillingness to remarry and seems to him a hypocrite, leaves no hope of finding a bridegroom for the young widow. He receives a letter from Madrid from his friend, in which he reports that he found a husband for Leonarda, painting a possible applicant with the most rainbow colors. This letter is brought to Valencia by Rosano, who is entrusted with making every effort to persuade Leonard to agree. Together, they go to Leonarda, who is found extremely displeased by Camilo's behavior. And in this state, the young widow almost immediately gives her consent to give her hand and heart to the Madrid bridegroom: she wants to leave Valencia in order to forget the unfaithful Camilo. The delighted Rosano, leaving the hesitant Lucensio, leaves the house to quickly report this news to Madrid, and encounters Ogon, Valerio and Lisandro waiting for Urban. If Camilo’s intercession saved him in the morning, now the fans have firmly decided to deal with those whom they consider to be their happy rival. Having mistaken Rosano for Urban, they seriously injured the young man.
And the living and unharmed Urban, sent to the Royal Bridge, returns to Leonard with bad news: on the way she and Camilo met the Algvasil, who were forced to give their names. Leonarda, realizing that now, having recognized the servant, Camilo easily recognizes his mistress, orders Urban to pretend that he has been serving with her cousin for a year now. She resolutely rejects the servant’s timid objections that they would similarly cast a shadow over another woman — when it comes to her honor, Leonard will stop at nothing.
The next morning, Camilo and Floro are met in the church of Urbana, who accompanies the old and ugly cousin of Leonard. He cannot believe his eyes and is shocked that he was so deceived. In passionateness, Camilo immediately writes a letter, where he abandons his beloved, mockingly reproaching that she misled him, taking advantage of the twilight. Needless to say, Urban sends this letter to Leonard.
Enraged by the ease with which Camilo confused her with her old cousin, the widow makes Martha change into a man’s dress and bring Camilo to her. He, after the message of Leonarda, in which she reproaches him for gullibility, agrees to another meeting. But now Camilo decides to be smarter and orders Floro to prepare a lantern with a candle lit inside. Once at Leonarda, he lights up the room - and recognizes in his lady's heart the widow with whom he recently spoke. Ausencio comes running into the noise, who came to share his concern about Rosano's health and is therefore at such a late hour in the house. He grabs a sword, but Leonard admits that he has long loved Camilo and decided to tie her fate with him. The delighted Lucensio immediately announces the news to people who have fled to the cries of Urban, and the next day it was decided to play a wedding - such is the happy ending of the play.
