 The eponymous Fermina Márquez arrives at the school with her aunt, sister and younger brother, "little Márquez", who was just enrolled there as a student.His family makes an arrangement with the school authorities in which they are allowed to visit him at Saint Augustine's for a time until he becomes adjusted to life at his new school.The students are entranced by Fermina's beauty and proximity, and each begins to fantasise about her and to look for opportunities to seduce her.