Book 1, Chapters 5 and 6 Summary

The summer holiday is over and Sebastian and Charles return to Oxford to begin the next year of schooling although their fervor from previous years seems to have dissipated partly because some friends have graduated. Anthony has moved to Munich to live with a new lover and Sebastian and Charles just feel older and less inclined toward frivolous activities. Sebastian even puts away Aloysius his teddy bear.

Charles begins his art studies in earnest yet Sebastian becomes more introverted and the two young men do not seek out the companionship of others. One day Lady Marchmain arrives unannounced at Oxford with the purpose of getting to know Charles better much to Sebastian's chagrin. Lady Marchmain is quite charmed by Charles and accepts him into her son's life and also announces that she has hired a man named Mr. Samgrass...