The story is told by means of a series of diary extracts and it is the record of emotion, thoughts, and impulses rather than of events. The hero is a man of the world; acquainted with the life of the capitals of Europe. He is a victim to the disease of analysis; introspection; lack not only of dogma but of faith in any activity. Yet he is capable of a great passion for another man's wife which by no means creates in is mind a merely philosophical mood.
