Summary

In the chapter “An Appointment,” the narrator describes how the Count plowed through reading the book of essays but felt they were better suited to reading on a cold winter night. The Count looked at the twice-tolling clock, which had been made to the orders of his father, often as the morning drug by.

When the clock finally struck noon, the Count threw down his book and ran from his room, happy to be on his way to his weekly appointment with the barber. When he reached the shop, there was one customer in the chair and another waiting. As the Count waited for the barber to finish, he studied the barber’s cabinet. It was intended to allow the customers to see what was inside, including a black bottle that the barber referred to as the Fountain of...