✓ Lord Montbarry breaks off his engagement to Agnes Lockwood to marry the Countess Narona. The couple end a continental tour in Venice where they live reclusively in a large, decaying palace. They are accompanied by Baron Rivar, brother of the Countess, and by Ferrari, their courier.
★ The Countess has also come to Venice, compelled by Destiny. She writes a ghost story in the form of a play which is in effect a confession of Montbarry's murder by herself and the Baron. Ferrari, dying of bronchitis.