His job at a second-rate firm does not make him forget his experiences in Sambuco, Italy, where he and two friends, Cass Kinsolving and Mason Flagg, were involved in a tragedy. Mason was accused of raping a woman and is now dead. Peter sees a cartoon by Cass in the paper and writes to him. Cass replies after an extended time and vaguely invites him to visit. Peter decides to take him up on the invitation when he takes a vacation in September. The first week, Peter goes to the mountains with his fiancée but they break up while they are there. Peter’s next plan is to see his parents at his childhood home in Port Warwick, Virginia.