# Chapter III explained — The Lost Stradivarius > Chapter companion for The Lost Stradivarius by John Meade Falkner. ## What happens John Maltravers, while playing the Areopagita suite at dawn, experiences a terrifying supernatural vision: a figure in a wicker chair that has been creaking nightly. The apparition, dressed in century-old clothing, vanishes as suddenly as it appeared. Later that summer, John invites his sister Sophia, Mrs. Temple, and Constance Temple to Oxford for Commemoration festivities, where he becomes strongly attracted to Constance. The chapter ends with a planned evening in St. John's College gardens. ## Themes in this chapter ### Supernatural and the Occult John's vision of a ghostly figure in his room, which he cannot explain rationally, introduces a supernatural element. ### Music as a Dangerous Force The gagliarda from the Areopagita suite seems to summon the apparition, linking music to the supernatural. ### Love and Neglect John's growing attraction to Constance Temple contrasts with his later neglect, foreshadowing future tragedy. ## Character check-ins ### John Maltravers Experiences the supernatural apparition in his rooms; later hosts the Temple family in Oxford and shows interest in Constance. ### Sophia Maltravers Narrator of the chapter; observes John's attraction to Constance and accompanies the party to Oxford. ### Constance Temple Visits Oxford with her mother; described as beautiful and virtuous, attracting John's attention. ### Mrs. Temple Chaperones her daughter and Sophia during the Oxford visit; accepts John's invitation. ### Mr. Gaskell Attends the Freemasons' ball with John and accompanies the party to St. John's College gardens. ## Key lines > He was conscious of that mental clearness and vigour which not unfrequently comes with the dawn to those who have sat watching or reading through the night He felt an unusual mental clarity and energy that often accompanies dawn after a sleepless night of reading or watching. _Describes John's heightened state before the apparition._ > The dread which took possession of him was due, he has more than once told me when analysing his feelings long afterwards, to two predominant causes. The terror he felt was later attributed by John to two main reasons, as he explained to the narrator. _Sophia recounts John's later analysis of his fear._ > The figure did not fade gradually, but went out, as it were, like the flame of a suddenly extinguished candle. The apparition vanished abruptly, like a candle being snuffed out, rather than slowly disappearing. _Describes the sudden disappearance of the ghost._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_lost_stradivarius_se/chapters/iii - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_lost_stradivarius_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_lost_stradivarius_se/chapters