Intellectual and gentle Monsieur St. Aubert lives in La Vallee, a gorgeous chateau in the French province of Gascony with his wife, Madame St. Aubert, and Emily, their only surviving child, in 1584. The St. Auberts lost their other two children when the boys were infants. M. St. Aubert hails from an illustrious family that lost its fortune because of his father’s excesses. Though St. Aubert could have made an alliance for money, he had “too small a portion of ambition to sacrifice what he called happiness” (14) and therefore married Madame St. Aubert for love. To keep their family in comfort, St. Aubert sold part of his estate to M. Quesnel, his wife’s brother.

St. Aubert spends most of his days contemplating nature and educating Emily, who is now nearing 20. Like her father, Emily too has a quiet disposition and a love of poetry and natural wonders. One day, while on an excursion alone to the fishing-house on their estate, Emily notices a sonnet written on the building’s wainscoting. It seems the sonnet may be about her, since it refers to a “Goddess of the fairy scene” (21). Emily is excited about her mysterious admirer but soon forgets the incident when her father contracts a serious illness.