Vicomtese Summary

In the chapter titled, "In which I come to the Old World," Rose and her father arrive in Brest, France, on October 12, 1779. Joseph is ill and his coughing prompts the proprietor of the first hotel where they stay to insist he leave. Rose says she' would prefer to be somewhere else and they move to the Hotel Graves. They are visited on October 22 by a cousin, Laure Longpre, who knows Alexandre. The next chapter, titled "In which I am introduced to my fiancé," includes the arrival on October 27 of Rose's Aunt Desiree, who is Joseph's sister. Her first words to Joseph, issued upon her arrival, are an insistence that he not die. Rose has a new gown her mother ordered for her but Desiree dismisses the gown as out of fashion. She also changes Rose's make-up, saying that Alexandre will "never" marry her...