The Bride

Maria decides to marry a man she doesn't know to help her family.

Maria convinces Paolino to return to school. With help from her politically minded friend Carla, she persuades the local teacher to let him test back into third grade while she continues her hard work in the hazelnut grove.

Everyone discovers that the body is Giorgia, Italo's first wife. The autopsy proves that he is not to blame, but it also destroys his hopes of seeing her again. Devastated, the man attempts to end his life, and Maria tries to talk him out of it.

Before Maria went back to Calabria, Italo offered her the chance to never come back and be free of their make-believe marriage. Upset and disappointed, she returns home to assist her brother Giuseppe, who is gravely ill.

Vittorio dies. Since he regretted swindling the family of Italo's first wife, before his passing, he gave the land he stole back to the woman's brother, and had bought new lands, seemingly marshy and fallow.

Maria's strength is unwavering as she fights for what she knows is right.