# The Portent — Chapters explained

> Chapter companions for The Portent by George MacDonald.

- [Dedication](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_portent_se/chapters/dedication.md): In the dedication, George MacDonald addresses his father's friend, Duncan McColl, and explains his intentions for the story. He defends the romance genre, asserting that a tale can be marvellous yet true to human nature,
- [The Portent](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_portent_se/chapters/the-portent.md): The narrator introduces the story of Duncan Campbell and Lady Alice, framed as a tale of the Highlanders' 'second sight.' The chapter sets the stage for a narrative involving supernatural visions, love, and destiny.
- [My Boyhood](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_portent_se/chapters/i-my-boyhood.md): The narrator describes his childhood on a small Highland estate in Argyll, where he found solace and joy in the solitary landscape of a bare hill. He recounts his favorite retreat—a cave formed by rocks—where he read and
- [II: The Second Hearing](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_portent_se/chapters/ii-the-second-hearing.md): Duncan Campbell, while lying in his rocky retreat, hears the mysterious sound of galloping hoofs with a loose shoe, which terrifies him. He visits his old nurse, who appears to be in a trance and is deeply distressed upo
- [III: My Old Nurse's Story](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_portent_se/chapters/iii-my-old-nurses-story.md): Duncan Campbell, now nearly nineteen, prepares to leave home to become a tutor for Lord Hilton's sons. Before departing, he visits his old nurse, Margaret, who tells him the legend of a doomed horseman—a wicked younger b

> 24 more chapter companions — [open a free preview](https://www.betterreads.dev/reader?bookId=the_portent_se_1475kb&preview=1) to unlock the rest.

- [IV: Hilton Hall](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_portent_se/chapters/iv-hilton-hall.md)
- [V: Lady Alice](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_portent_se/chapters/v-lady-alice.md)
- [VI: My Quarters](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_portent_se/chapters/vi-my-quarters.md)
- [The Library](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_portent_se/chapters/vii-the-library.md)
- [VIII: The Somnambulist](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_portent_se/chapters/viii-the-somnambulist.md)
- [The First Waking](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_portent_se/chapters/ix-the-first-waking.md)
- [X: Love and Power](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_portent_se/chapters/x-love-and-power.md)
- [A New Pupil](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_portent_se/chapters/xi-a-new-pupil.md)
- [Confession](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_portent_se/chapters/xii-confession.md)
- [XIII: Questioning](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_portent_se/chapters/xiii-questioning.md)
- [XIV: Jealousy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_portent_se/chapters/xiv-jealousy.md)
- [XV: The Chamber of Ghosts](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_portent_se/chapters/xv-the-chamber-of-ghosts.md)
- [The Clanking Shoe](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_portent_se/chapters/xvi-the-clanking-shoe.md)
- [XVII: The Physician](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_portent_se/chapters/xvii-the-physician.md)
- [Old Friends](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_portent_se/chapters/xviii-old-friends.md)
- [Old Constancy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_portent_se/chapters/xix-old-constancy.md)
- [Chapter XX: Margaret](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_portent_se/chapters/xx-margaret.md)
- [XXI: Hilton](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_portent_se/chapters/xxi-hilton.md)
- [XXII: The Sleeper](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_portent_se/chapters/xxii-the-sleeper.md)
- [XXIII: My Old Room](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_portent_se/chapters/xxiii-my-old-room.md)
- [XXIV: Prison-Breaking](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_portent_se/chapters/xxiv-prison-breaking.md)
- [New Entrenchments](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_portent_se/chapters/xxv-new-entrenchments.md)
- [Escape](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_portent_se/chapters/xxvi-escape.md)
- [XXVII: Freedom](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_portent_se/chapters/xxvii-freedom.md)

HTML index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_portent_se/chapters