In this chapter, we are introduced to the characters of the novel, and we are told that the story is set in the present day. We learn that the protagonist is named Nemo, and that he is the son of a wealthy French family. Nemo's father, Jacques, is a lawyer, and he is a close friend of the protagonist's mother, Mariane. Mariane's husband, Jacques's brother, is also a lawyer. When the protagonist learns that his mother has died, he is very upset. He tells Mariane that he wishes she were dead so that he would not have to go through with his father's plan to kill his mother. When Mariane asks him why he wishes he were dead, he says that he does not want her to die, because he wants her to be with him. He also tells her that he did not want Mariane to die because he wanted her to marry him. When he asks her why she did not marry him, she says that she wanted him to marry her because she loved him so much. She also tells him that when she was a child, she had a crush on a man named Nemo. When she asked him what he wanted, he said that he wanted to marry Mariane because he loved her so much