A multi-layered tale: our narrator tells us that he used to know a man who owned a strangely evocative painting with an illustrative air about it. Whne he finally asked his acquaintance to tell him more about the artwork, this tale was the one that was told.
An artist of no great means has long been in love with the daughter of his wealthy patron. However, since he has never declared his hopeful intentions, can he really say anything when the father decides to bestow his daughter's hand upon another? There's true love - and then there is the hope of wealth and position - and then there is the possibility of far, far worse than a simply loveless marriage; which is what befalls this hapless bride.