Peter Ibbetson

Gogo, a boy of English extraction, grows up in Paris alongside neighbor Mimsey. After his mother dies, he is taken to England by his uncle, who renames him after his mother's maiden name, transforming him into Peter Ibbetson. This marks the end of the first foreshadowed chapter of his life.

In England, the boy receives a formal English name rooted in his mother's lineage, becoming Peter Ibbetson. The name change signals a new identity and the transition from Gogo to a man steeped in English life.

As an adult Englishman, Ibbetson works as an architect in Yorkshire, engaged in a restoration project for the Duke of Towers. The work introduces him to aristocratic circles and the possibility of romance.

Ibbetson falls in love with Mary, the Duchess of Towers, who returns his affection despite her being married. Their secret closeness rekindles memories of a childhood bond and complicates their lives.

The Duke discovers the affair and confronts them, demanding explanations for their behavior. Peter realizes that Mary is his childhood sweetheart, a revelation that deepens the emotional stakes.

The tension culminates when jealousy erupts and the Duke pulls a gun on Ibbetson. In self-defense, Peter kills the Duke, ending the immediate danger but sealing his future.

Ibbetson is unjustly convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. The harsh sentence casts him into a bleak prison, where the outside world no longer seems within reach.

During confinement, a fight with guards breaks Peter's back, leaving him unconscious and more isolated than ever. The injury deepens his despair as the dream of Mary seems increasingly elusive.

Mary appears in Peter's dreams and convinces him that they can live together within their shared dreams. The dream world allows him to join her in landscapes untethered by the prison walls.

Despite the years, Peter and Mary stay forever youthful in their dream existence. They traverse sunlit glades and meadows, a constant bridge between life and reverie.

Mary dies of old age in reality, but in the dream realm she makes one last rendezvous with Peter and speaks to him from beyond. The bond between them endures even as time catches up to her.

Back on his prison bed, Peter pledges to join Mary in the afterlife and dies, completing the strange cycle begun in his boyhood. His death closes a life defined by love, imprisonment, and dream-bridged eternity.