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A nameless English soldier is recovering from his wounds in a Spanish hospital, where his doctor suggests he take up temporary residence with a local family. The once-noble family consists of a mother, a son (Felipe) and a daughter (Olalla). The Englishman is welcomed by the son and begins to develop a casual friendliness with the mother. Both are described as "stupid" and "slothful" but the narrator emphasises the simple pleasure of their company. Some time passes without sight of Olalla and when she finally appears, our hero falls desperately in love with her, and she with him. He recognises an extraordinary intellect in the girl and expresses a desire to take her away from the decaying home of her kinsmen. They profess their love for one another, but Olalla urges the Englishman to leave at once, keeping her always in his memory...

This dark short story is based on a dream that Stevenson had and in his 1888 essay A Chapter on Dreams he describes the difficulties he had in fitting his vision into a narrative framework.