 Despite the success of her debut, aided by her genius, piety, and beauty, Isabella turns down the lavish lifestyle she could have as the wife of a wealthy man for the life of a nun.However, she had won many suitors during her short debut, and one, in particular, is eighteen-year-old Villenoy.He alone of all her admirers possessed the courage to confess his feelings, but when she turns him down, he falls deathly ill.