Ambrose seems completely taken with Rachel, but within a few months the tone of his letters shifts: he has begun suffering from extreme headaches, and he refers to Rachel as “my torment.” Alarmed, Philip consults with his godfather and guardian, Nick Kendall, who recommends Philip travel to Italy immediately. Philip soon receives a letter from Ambrose saying that he has met and married an Ashley family relative named Rachel, the former Contessa Sangalletti.
On one such winter, when Philip is twenty-four, Ambrose travels to Florence, Italy. After Philip graduated from university, Ambrose began spending winters abroad as treatment for his rheumatism. An orphan, Philip grew up on a large estate in Cornwall, raised by his beloved older cousin Ambrose. Twenty-five-year-old Philip Ashley narrates the novel, prompted to reflect on the events of the past year by his guilt over the death of his cousin Rachel Ashley.
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