In which Martin Eden, newly intoxicated by a transcendent encounter with a woman whose spirit dazzles him beyond all prior experience, wanders home through a rainy evening pondering his stark contrast with the university men who share her acquaintance. He returns to the cramped, petty surroundings of his sister’s home where the harsh judgments of her husband and the gritty realities of his station stand in sharp relief to the luminous vision that lingers in his mind.