Part One, Chapter One Summary

Camilla Gwyon, wife of the 49-year-old Reverend Gwyon, dies unexpectedly of appendicitis while the couple is on a steamship journey to Europe. Gwyon refuses to allow burial at sea, so he arranges for a casket and burial in the small Spanish town of San Zwingli. Upon his dejected return to Boston, Gwyon becomes the object of scorn by his Aunt May who resents the fact that Camilla has been buried in a faraway place amidst Catholics. In later years, Gwyon revisits Spain and stays in a Franciscan monastery long enough to sense the frustration and unhappiness of the monks After a short visit, he is sent by wagon to Madrid. In the passage of Spanish women on the street, he is reminded of his wife's dresses. In the faces of Spanish women, he also sees his departed...