This short novella is narrated by Latimer, a sensitive man who is troubled by strange powers of foresight and an uncanny ability to hear other people's thoughts. Rather than bringing him closer to others, these gifts leave him isolated and uneasy. His story involves his family, his lonely youth, and a fateful relationship with a woman who both fascinates and unsettles him. Darker and more eerie than Eliot's usual work, it is a gothic tale that asks what would happen if we could truly know what others think of us.