The Mystery of Mrs. Christie

A first-person narrator addresses a second-person subject, inquiring “How do you want this story to end?” (9). In a dark room, a person (revealed in Chapter 4 to be Archie) reads an ominous letter advising them of a difficult path ahead. (The letter is from Archie’s disappeared wife, Agatha, as revealed in Chapter 4.)

October 12, 1912

An unseen man (revealed in Chapter 3 to be Archie Christie) whispers to Agatha that she should “lose [her] dance card” (11) as she attends a ball. While she finds this rude, she’s also curious and attempts to identify the speaker. She muses about meeting her “Fate,” or the man she’ll eventually marry. A blond man is staring at her and, after he speaks with the orchestra, approaches Agatha and reiterates his order to lose her card. He’s arranged for a modern song to play—one that would displease their hosts—because he overheard Agatha wish for modern music. Agatha is flattered; nobody has ever made a gesture like this for her, including Reggie Lucy, a man with whom she has an unofficial agreement to marry, even though she regards him as a brother. Agatha agrees to a dance.