Summary

In Chapter 1, the narration states that the story takes place in the year 1468. The story takes place in England. Christopher Fairfax, a young Christian priest, is traveling by horse from Exeter to Wessex. Exeter is where the country’s church organization is based. Fairfax is looking for a village called Addicott St. George, but it is located in a valley, and he becomes lost. He eventually finds the village thanks to directions from a stranger he encounters on the road. In Chapter 2, Fairfax arrives in Addicott St. George and goes to the parsonage there. It soon becomes evident to the reader that Fairfax has been sent by the Church to perform a funeral for Thomas Lacy, the village’s priest. Mrs. Agnes Budd, the parsonage housekeeper, shows Fairfax Lacy’s body. His death was caused by a fall from a high cliff near the...