The Permanent Husband Chapter 2

In which our somewhat irritable and restless Velchaninoff becomes obsessively haunted by the persistent and enigmatic presence of a man wearing a crape band on his hat, a figure who seems to both puzzle and unsettle him deeply amid the stifling heat and his own internal disquiet. His troubled nights bring fevered dreams of accusation and violence, and on one midsummer’s night his nerves are set aflame as the mysterious visitor appears beneath his window and makes an unbidden attempt to enter his home, stirring a mixture of fear and curious resolve in the lonely protagonist.