Katherine Ames

Mrs. Ames is the focus of the story. She is married to an astronomer whose distant, overly intellectual nature has caused her to resent him. She is the astronomer's only real link with the day-today world, but she means little to him beside that. Longing for someone who is not wholly immersed in the life of the mind, she is intrigued by and attracted to the plumber, who stands for everything physical.

Mr. Ames

See The Astronomer

The Astronomer

The astronomer is married to Mrs. Ames. The narrator of the story says of the astronomer that "he was a man of other things, a dreamer." He spends his life examining the heavens and attempting at all times to remain as high above the earth as possible— Mrs. Ames says that he likes being "on the roof. Or on the mountains. He's been up on the tops...