Chapter 6 Summary

Marcher spends a year in travel, but nothing interests him. When he returns, he tries to reclaim the wonder of his years with May, so he returns to her grave. He feels that it belongs to him, so he comes to visit it regularly. It is where he is most alive. He dwells there on the past—the years they had together. He depends on it for support and identity.

Another man also comes regularly to the cemetery though Marcher scarcely notices him. But one day they meet unexpectedly, and Marcher is stricken with the ravages that the other man's grief has etched on his face and in his eyes. He realizes then that he has lived aloof and above any feeling in his own life and in his life with May. Then he realizes what she was trying to tell him. What...