So there is this guy in a train a long time ago, probably in England. His name is John Smith. He is an old bachelor in his fifties. It is Christmastime, and he is riding to his friend's house in the country to spend the Christmas season.
There is another man in the train across from John, and all the way to the country they don't talk to each other, but John sits secretly wondering who the other man could be. All John can tell about the other man without actually talking to him, is that the man must be a clergyman, because he is wearing a clergyman's collar.
When they get to the countryside, John gets into a horse-drawn carriage, while the other man walks off into the darkness away from the train station. The carriage takes John to his friend's house. The friend's name is Colonel Cathcart, and his nineteen-year-old daughter is Adela. The Colonel is a widower and has been for many years.
There is one other guest besides John who has come for the holidays, he is the Colonel's nephew Percy, who is the same age as Adela and thinks she ought to marry him. Adela, however, is too depressed to be thinking about Percy, or marriage, or even Christmas.
