Young Irony
- The narrator gets ahead of himself by telling us right away how Amory and Eleanor's relationship ended. After checking himself, the narrator decides to step back in time and start at the beginning of Amory's time in Maryland at his uncle's place.
- When Amory first arrives in Maryland, he gets bored easily and spends his afternoons taking walks and singing to himself. But one day, he hears a girl singing on top of a nearby haystack and goes to check it out. The girl reaches over the top of the haystack and helps him up.
- The two of them strike up an instant friendship and talk about their lives and their deepest thoughts. Before you know it, they're holding hands and walking through the fields together, even though it's raining.
- As the summer goes on, Amory and Eleanor create a deep bond. But they both seem to know that the relationship is bound not to last. It's just a summer romance. Amory talks to Eleanor openly about his heartbreak with Rosalind, and Eleanor helps him get over it.
- Toward the end of the summer, Amory can tell that they're both preparing for their final goodbyes. He goes out horseback riding at night with Eleanor, and he wants to kiss her. But she's already pulling away. He gets annoyed and calls her cold, so she responds by riding her horse toward a cliff. It's only at the last moment that she jumps off. Her horse goes flying into the abyss and dies.
- After the horse incident, Amory leaves. Over the next few years, he and Eleanor send each other poems about love that can't last.