The Portent · Chapter
The First Waking explained
Lady Alice awakens from her sleepwalking trance and confronts Duncan, who has carried her to safety.
What happens
Lady Alice awakens from her sleepwalking trance and confronts Duncan, who has carried her to safety. Their exchange reveals her anger and shame, but also a growing trust as she agrees to keep their encounter secret. Duncan, overwhelmed by her beauty and the mysterious horse's sound, realizes he has fallen in love with her.
Themes in this chapter
Love and Sacrifice
Duncan's actions—carrying Lady Alice to safety and respecting her secret—are driven by his emerging love, which he acknowledges at the chapter's end.
Second Sight and the Supernatural
The recurring sound of the horse with the clanking shoe, which only Duncan and Lady Alice can hear, underscores the supernatural elements of the narrative.
Isolation and Connection
Lady Alice's sleepwalking isolates her, but her trust in Duncan creates a connection, as she shares her secret and asks for his help.
Characters to notice
- Lady Alice
Awakens from her sleepwalking, initially angry and ashamed, but gradually trusts Duncan and asks him to take her back to her room.
- Duncan Campbell
Carries Lady Alice to safety, confesses his actions, and experiences the onset of love for her.
- The Narrator
Recounts the events of Lady Alice's first waking and his own emotional transformation.
Key passages
“Never shall I forget the look of mingled bewilderment, alarm, and shame, with which her great eyes met mine.”
I will always remember the confusion, fear, and embarrassment in her eyes when she first saw me.
Highlights the intensity of the moment of awakening.
“I heard the horse with the clanking shoe, and, in terror, I caught you up, and fled with you, almost before I knew what I did.”
I heard the horse with the clanking shoe and, terrified, I grabbed you and ran without thinking.
Duncan explains his impulsive action driven by supernatural fear.
“Before the morning, I had fully entered that phase of individual development commonly called 'love,' of which the real nature is as great a mystery to me now, as it was at any period previous to its evolution in myself.”
By morning, I had fallen in love, and even now I don't understand its true nature any better than I did before.
Duncan reflects on his newfound love, emphasizing its mysterious quality.