This is a story about a college romance between well-dressed but mediocre male student ("Adonis") and a shy female student ("Marisa"). Adonis' false bravado about his future is believed by Marisa, and her heart is broken when she overhears him telling his fraternity brothers that he has no plans to marry her. Marisa "pass[es] the boundary between truthful girlhood and self-reliant womanhood" and takes charge of her life. Adonis marries a wealthy and unkind women and lives out his days in unhappiness.
May 1882