|
The story takes place between the
years 1894 and 1900, at a time when most elementary advances of science were taking place. It is at this point in time that
Luz Maria "Lucesita", an innocent, uneducated and naive farm girl, has to travel to the capital city taking her mother, Rosa,
who is seriously ill. They stay at the house of Modesta, an old friend of Rosa who, for many years, has been working as a
cooker at the residence of the Mendozas, a wealthy family Lucesita's mother is unable to recover from her disease. At her
deathbed, she calls Miguel Mendoza, the residence's owner who is, in fact, Lucesita's real father. She has him swear that,
upon her death, he shall look after her.
Miguel then takes Lucesita as a servant in his house since he does not dare
to tell the truth to his wife, Graciela, a cold and calculating woman.
At the Mendoza's house Lucesita gets to know
Gustavo, a handsome and cultured young man, a lover of nature and of simple life, who is married to the Mendoza's only daughter:
Angelina. She is a pampered and possessive woman who can be pitiless in her egotism and who spends her life on a wheelchair
pretending she is an invalid, for she knows that is the only way that she can keep Gustavo by her side.
Little by little
Lucesita gets to be loved by everyone in the residence and an attraction starts developing between her and Gustavo. Confused
and fearful she flees back to the countryside. Through one of those quirks of fortune she and Gustavo happen to meet again
and fall into each other's arms. As a result of that episode she finds herself pregnant. Remorseful about what had happened,
she goes back to live and hide in the city. In the meantime her true father, Miguel, who has now fallen seriously ill, orders
her to be found and, repentant and wanting to atone for his having ignored her, takes her to live at his home. There she again
meets Gustavo. Together they fight for their love, they marry and they have their daughter, Maria Rosa.
Angelina cannot
bear to lose him and lays a trap out for Gustavo. The plan fails, she herself is killed and he suffers the loss of his memory,
is hospitalized and is subsequently taken, together with his daughter Maria Rosa, to some rest home in the interior of the
country. Lucecita, having been deceived about Gustavo's and her daughter's whereabouts, is unable to find them but, nevertheless,
hopes that some day they will all be reunited.
To make a living she leaves the Mendoza's house and seeks employment
as a housemaid. She soon has to resign the job for the eldest son of the family she is working for falls in love with her
but she cannot respond for the memory of Gustavo never leaves her.
|
