In 1336, Pedro, heir to the Portuguese crown, marries Constanza Manuel de Villena, a Castilian noblewoman, for political reasons; but the impulsive prince ends up giving in to his love for Inés de Castro, his wife's lady-in-waiting.
Maria Papoila, a shepherdess from Beira working in Lisbon, one day meets a rich young man, Eduardo, whom she assumes to be of her own social standing due to his uniform as a private soldier. Some time later, arrested as a suspect in a major robbery, Eduardo is abandoned by his selfish fiancée, Margarida, and it is the "soup girl" who, although despised in her dream and sacrificing her honor, appears in court as Eduardo's lover, and he is acquitted. Without asking for anything in return, Maria Papoila returns to her village.
