Summary

In Chapter 1, Charles, the narrator realized that he loved Sophia Leonides, whom he met while they worked together in Egypt. As he told her how he felt about her, she commented that he knew little about her. She told him she and her extended family lived together at Swinly Dean, a suburb of London “In a little crooked house….” (4). She went into detail in describing her grandfather, a rich Greek from Smyrna, whom she said she liked better than anyone else.

In Chapter 2, two years later, Charles returned to England. He noticed in the paper an announcement of the death of Aristide Leonides, Sophia’s grandfather. Charles sent his condolences and invited Sophia to dinner. He noticed she seemed strange during dinner, but it was not until he asked when they could marry that Sophia told him what was bothering her. She was...