The novel begins with a prologue in the voice of an old man, Charles de Cresseron, that is set in Chapelizod, Ireland, roughly a century after the events of the novel proper. This prologue details how, during an interment at the churchyard of the title,...
Haunted by a strange, ghostly experience from her youth and lonely in her isolated castle, Laura longs for a companion. Suddenly, her wishes are answered.