A story set in Córdoba and Madrid, Spain. Elio is a star matador, and is also engaged to his teacher Navarro's cheerful and sweet daughter. Life seems to be going very smoothly for him, but then one evening at a party he meets again his first love, Eva. Eva had married a nobleman and been widowed, and is now the lover of Ricardo Romero. Elio's good friend Vicente is always committing adultery with other men's wives and not heeding Elio's warnings. One day he is caught. He wins the duel and kills his opponent, but his status as a matador is lost, and he disappears without a trace.