Summary

The novel begins with our omniscient narrator giving us a look at Lucien “Lucy” Minor as he says farewell to his mother and sets out on a journey to a castle. After his mother reenters the house, Lucy lingers, lights up the pipe that he has purchased for the occasion and is determined to learn to use, and reminisces about the series of events that led to the present moment.

Six months prior, Lucy had been struck with pneumonia. The sickness was so severe that the village priest, Father Raymond, came to read Lucy his last rites. But when Lucy’s godless father came home from working the fields, he kicked the priest out of the house. Late that night, while Lucy was fighting death in his bed, he received a visit from a strange man. The man sat in Lucy...