The action takes place in the XVII century. in Madrid. Arriving in the city of don Manuel and his servant Cosme are looking for the house of don Juan. Don Manuel and don Juan studied together and fought together, they are old friends. Two ladies appear on the street, whose faces are covered with veils. Someone chases after them, and they ask don Manuel for protection. He is ready to protect the ladies "from shame and misfortune." They disappear, and Don Luis appears with them with his servant Rodrigo. Don Louis wants to know the name of a beautiful stranger, whose face he barely noticed. In order to detain him, Cosme walks up to him and asks to read the address on the letter. Don Louis rudely pushes him away. Then Don Manuel stands up for his servant and says that he should teach a lesson in politeness to a snapper. They fight on swords.
Don Juan with servants and Don Beatrice with their maid Clara appear on the street. Don Juan wants to help his brother don Luis, and don Beatrice holds him back. Don Juan recognizes his brother Don Manuel as an adversary and tries to reconcile both. Don Manuel is wounded in the wrist, and he needs help. Don Juan generously invites him to his house. Donja Beatrice, hearing about the wound, thinks that don Juan is wounded. Don Luis, who is not indifferent to her, notices her excitement and regrets that he is not the cause of her concern.
Don Luis is very worried that his brother has settled in the house of his friend, a single cavaliero, since he might accidentally meet their sister, Dona Angela, mourning for her husband. However, the servant Rodrigo reassures him - the entrance to the half of the guest is disguised as a cupboard with dishes, and no one will guess that there is a door.
Doña Angela complains about her widow's fate to the handmaid Esavel. She mourns, and the brothers keep her locked up, for it is considered a shame for the family if the widow will meet with men and go to the theater. The maid answers her that many widows at the court of the king are outwardly pious and virtuous, and they hide a sin under the veil and "are ready to jump in the dance to the sounds of any pipe, like a ball." She recalls the cavaliero they met on the street and asked for protection when they fled from don Luis, hiding their faces under the veils. Donja Angela went secretly from her brothers for a walk, and don Luis mistook her for a beautiful stranger and wanted to know her name.
Don Luis tells his sister about his adventure, not suspecting that he saw her and because of her got into a quarrel with a stranger cavaliero. Now this cavalier settled in their house.
Donja Angela wants to see the cavaliero who began to fight on swords for her sake, and now is visiting behind the wall in the house of her brothers. Isabelle takes it easy to arrange a meeting - where the door leads to the guest’s chambers, don Juan made a cabinet that can be easily pushed aside. Donja Angela wants to secretly take care of who shed blood for her.
Don Luis, who is burdened by the soul of his misconduct and the wound of Don Manuel, gives him his sword as a sign of repentance and as a guarantee of friendship. He gladly accepts it.
Cosme, left alone in the room, parses his things, takes out his wallet and gladly counts the money. Then he leaves, and from the door disguised as a closet, doña Angela and Esauvel go out. Donja Angela because Don Manuel risked his life for her sake, wants to "repay him ... at least some gift." She opens his bag and examines papers and things. Esabel searches the servant's chest and instead of money puts the coals into his wallet. Donja Angela writes a note and puts it on the bed, then they leave.
Cosme returns and sees that things are scattered around the room, and in the wallet, instead of money, coals. He calls the owner and tells him that the house was hosted by a brownie and the money turned into coal. Don Manuel replies that Cosme is drunk, and don Juan advises the footman to choose other jokes that are not so impudent. Cosme swears that there was someone in the room. Don Manuel finds a letter on his bed, reads it, and understands that the lady wrote because of which he fought with don Luis: “... any door and door is accessible to her at any time. It’s easy for her to enter the lover’s house. ” But Cosme cannot understand how the note nevertheless ended up on his master’s bed and why things are scattered, because all the windows are locked and no one entered the house. Don Manuel decides to write an answer, and then trace who takes and brings notes. He does not believe in brownies, nor in spirits, nor in sorcerers, for he has not yet had to meet with evil spirits. Cosme, on the other hand, continues to believe that "the devils are acting up here."
Doña Angela shows don Beatrice the response of don Manuel, which is written so kindly and playfully, so successfully imitates the “style of chivalric novels”. Donja Angela wants to continue her joke. From a letter from don Manuel, she finds out that he considers her the lady of the heart of don Luis, and thinks that she has a key to his house. However, it is very difficult for Don Manuel to trap her, for Don Angela always knows for sure whether the guest has left, or whether he is at home. Donja Angela admits that she is jealous, because in the guest’s things she found a portrait of some lady and wants to steal him.
Don Manuel prepares to leave for a few days to take his papers to the king at Escorial, and asks Cosma to pack his things. But Cosme is afraid to remain alone in the room, as it has already darkened. Don Manuel calls him a coward and leaves to say goodbye to don Juan. At this time, in the room of don Manuel, Isavel walks out of the closet with a closed basket in his hands. Comes in with Cosme's candle, Isael sneaks after him, trying not to notice her. Cosme hears a rustle and trembles with fear, Esabel strikes him and puts out the candle to hide in the dark, but at this moment don Manuel enters and asks why Cosme did not light the candle. He replies that the spirit hit him and blew out the fire. Don Manuel scolds him, at this moment, in the darkness, Isael stumbles upon Don Manuel, he grabs a basket and screams that he caught the spirit. While Cosme was running after the fire, Isael groped for the door and left, and in the hands of Don Manuel there was a basket. Cosme brings fire, and the owner and the servant see a basket instead of the spirit and begin to wonder who and how could get into the room. The owner says that it was that lady who wrote letters to him, and Cosme believed that the basket went straight from hell, from the devils. The basket contains thin linen and a note saying that a lady cannot be don Luis’s lover.
Donja Angela decides to arrange a meeting with a guest - blindfold him and lead him to her room. Doña Beatrice believes that when he sees a lovely young rich lady in front of him, he might go crazy. She also wants to secretly attend this date and assures her friend that she will not interfere with the meeting. At this time, don Luis enters and, hiding behind the drapery, eavesdrops on their conversation. It seems to him that this is about the meeting of his brother Juan with Beatrice. Don Luis is in the throes of jealousy and decides to hinder his date by whatever herd.
Don Juan informs the ladies that don Manuel is leaving their house, but will be back soon. Doña Angela states that fate temporarily relieves everyone of the "annoying presence of a guest." Don Juan does not understand what his guest did to his sister.
Don Manuel and Cosme are returning to the house, because they forgot important papers for the king. In order not to wake up the owners, they do not light a fire. At this time, Dona Angela and Esabel leave the wardrobe. Donja Angela lights a flashlight and wants to read the papers that are on the table. Cosme and Don Manuel notice the light, and they feel uneasy. Donja Angela takes out a candle from a lantern, puts it in a candlestick on a table and sits in a chair with her back to both. Don Manuel sees her and is delighted with her beauty, while Cosme pretends to have a devil sitting on the table, whose eyes burn like hellfires, and on your feet instead of your toes - “if you saw a leg ... Your leg always gives them away ". Don Manuel approaches Don Angela and grabs her hand. She begs him to let her go, since she is only a ghost, meeting them still ahead, it is not time to reveal the secret: “When you break it, although by accident, do not wait for good!” Cosme is struck by the eloquence of evil spirits: “As he says! She’s just that devilish lady! ” Don Manuel believes that he is not a ghost, not an obsession, but a living person: “You are flesh and blood, not the devil, no, you are a woman!” But Cosme believes that "this is one and the same thing!" Donja Angela is ready to tell everything, but asks first to lock the doors to the room. Don Manuel and Cosme leave to fulfill her request, at this time Esabel opens the closet and Donja Angela disappears with her.
Don Manuel and Cosme are returning and cannot understand where the lady has gone, they examine all the corners, Cosme continues to insist that this was not a woman, but the devil in the form of a woman, because this is not surprising, “if a woman often happens all year round "damn, damn at least once, to get even, can become a woman."
Dona Angela’s room. In the darkness, Esabel leads Don Manuel's hand and asks him to wait. He received a letter in which he was scheduled to meet, and now the servants brought him to some house. The door opens, the girls enter, carrying sweets, and behind them appear the luxuriously dressed Dona Angela and Dona Beatrice, which depicts a maid. Don Manuel is amazed and compares the night appearance of the beautiful lady with the appearance of the morning dawn goddess Aurora, who "shines with her rosy red blush, already in a hurry to change the dawn." Donja Angela answers that fate tells her, on the contrary, to hide in the darkness, and not to shine. She asks not to ask her anything, if Don Manuel wants to meet her secretly, in time she will tell him everything. At this time, the voice of don Juan is heard, asking to open the door to him. Everything is in a panic, Isaved leads away Don Manuel, Don Beatrice is hiding in Angela’s bedroom.
Don Juan asks why his sister at night in such a luxurious outfit - she replies that she was tired of eternal mourning, “a symbol of grief and sorrow,” and she put on a chic dress to console herself a little. The brother notes that, although “trinkets comfort women’s sadness, toilets are facilitated, but such behavior is not commendable, inappropriate.” Don Juan asks where Donja Beatrice, sister replies that she left home. Then he is going to go to her under the balcony for a date.
Esabel brings Don Manuel to his room, although he does not suspect it, and leaves to wait for her return. At this time, Cosme enters the room and stumbles upon the owner in the dark. Don Manuel realizes that there is a servant in front of him, and asks where he got and who the master of the servant is. Cosme replies that in the house there is a devilry that he has to endure, and his master is a fool and his name is Don Manuel. Don Manuel recognizes Cosme and asks where they are. He replies that in his room. Don Manuel is going to check his words. From the closet, Esaule comes out, takes Cosma by the hand, thinking that it’s Don Manuel, and takes him out of the closet. The master returns and does not find his servant, bumping only on the bare walls. He decides to hide in the alcove and wait for the invisible lady.
In the room of Dona Angela, Esaule enters, dragging Cosma, barely alive from fear, by the hand. Dona Angela notes with horror that an error has occurred, which the whole house now knows about. Cosme talks about the tricks of the devil, who dressed up in a skirt and corset. Don Louis knocks on the door. Esabel and Cosme hurry away. Donja Beatrice is hiding behind the curtain. Don Louis comes in and says that at the door of the house I saw a donna Beatrice stretcher and thought that she was meeting with don Juan here. He picks up the curtains and sees Don Beatrice. A noise is heard behind the cupboard, and don Luis rushes after the candle to find out who is there. In the room of don Manuel, Esawel and Cosme enter, and then don Luis appears with a candle, he clearly saw the man and found that someone had moved the closet. Cosme is hiding under the table. Don Luis notices Don Manuel and accuses him of dishonoring his friend’s house, that he is a seducer. Don Manuel is very surprised at the appearance of don Luis and cannot understand what he is accused of. Don Louis claims that he entered his sister's room through a secret door, and don Manuel replies that he has no idea about any secret door. Fate must resolve their dispute - they will fight on swords. During a duel, don Luis breaks his sword, and don Manuel generously offers him to go after another. Cosme invites the owner to flee, but then he suddenly notices Don Angela who has appeared. She says that, fleeing the anger of don Luis, she left the house and met don Juan on the porch. He returned her to the house and is now looking for a stranger in all rooms. Donja Angela confesses to Don Manuel that she loves him and therefore looked for meetings with him, she asks him for protection. He is ready to be her protector. Don Luis appears, and Don Manuel asks for his sister’s hands. Don Juan enters, who heard everything and is very glad that such a denouement has come, the invisibility has been found, and we can talk about the wedding.
