Chapters 1-2 Summary

The people of the Hill are high society, so they concern themselves primarily with parties, politics, and gossip, with gossip being the most important. After two hired swordsmen are killed in a duel at a party, everyone is discussing the implications.

The Hill is where the aristocracy lives, and it overlooks the area of Riverside, which is a dangerous slum. One night, Lord Horn is having a garden party, and the guests are delighted when Richard St. Vier, a very skilled swordsman, fights and kills two swordsmen, de Maris and Lynch. St. Vier flees to Riverside, where he arrives at the home of his landlady Marie, who is also a laundress and whore. Marie is waiting for him, having heard rumors of the fight from several of her colorful, low-class friends. Richard St. Vier gives Marie his shirt to wash, since...