In 1764, a group of English visitors to the Santa Maria del Pianto in the vicinity of Naples is standing in the portico of the church. One of the visitors, catching a glimpse of a tall, thin man wrapped in a cloak, is struck by the latter’s expression of ferocity.

When the travelers enter the church to search for the stranger, a friar from the adjoining convent (throughout the novel, Radcliffe refers to monasteries as convents) appears, with the assumption that the group is seeking to find out more about the artifacts in the church. As the stranger reemerges, passing toward a confessional, a member of the group inquires about him. The friar’s explanation that the stranger is an assassin shocks the visitors, who cannot understand why he is not imprisoned. They are further astonished that the church is not only harboring such a criminal, but feeding him as well.

At this point, the friar points out the confessional under a stained glass window which the assassin has entered. He informs the travelers that the confessional is the site of some extraordinary circumstances some years ago resulting in a “horrible confession,” an account of which was published as a book by a young Paduan student who happened to be at Naples. When an English traveler expresses astonishment at the publication of a confession which he assumes to be a private affair, the friar observes that there are exceptions when a higher authority demands it. 

After returning to his hotel, the traveler receives the book mentioned by the friar.