The narrator, wintering in a small New England village, becomes acquainted with a tall, ruined farmer and pieces together his tragic history. Years earlier the farmer suffered a disabling accident and thereafter remained bound by duties to family and an exacting, hypochondriacal wife. When the wife's young cousin comes to keep house, the farmer and cousin form a quiet, forbidden attachment that promises escape from their constrained lives. A desperate plan to run away culminates in a deliberate sled crash intended to kill them but results in physical catastrophes that cripple both and leave the wife firmly in control. The narrative examines entrapment, thwarted desire, and how a harsh landscape shapes human fate.