The narrator dreams of returning to the ruined Manderley estate while living in foreign exile with her husband.

Mrs. Van Hopper forces an introduction with Maxim de Winter at the Monte Carlo hotel.

Maxim proposes marriage to the narrator over breakfast on the morning of Mrs. Van Hopper's planned departure.

The narrator arrives at Manderley as the second Mrs. de Winter and first meets the cold, skull-faced Mrs. Danvers.

Maxim and the narrator walk to the Happy Valley; Jasper leads the narrator to the forbidden cove and boathouse cottage.

The narrator borrows a raincoat and finds Rebecca's monogrammed handkerchief hidden inside its pocket.

Local guests at a Manderley tea party propose reviving the famous annual fancy dress ball.

Mrs. Danvers suggests the narrator copy the Caroline de Winter portrait costume and directs her to a London shop.

The narrator descends the stairs in her costume and Maxim stares at her with cold fury, ordering her to change.

A ship runs aground in the fog near Manderley's bay, drawing crowds to the shoreline.

A diver investigating the stranded ship discovers Rebecca's sunken boat with a decomposed body inside the cabin.

Maxim confesses to the narrator that he murdered Rebecca and placed her body in the boat.

Boatbuilder Tabb testifies at the inquest that holes in Rebecca's boat were deliberately made, not accidental.

The jury returns a verdict of suicide at the inquest, briefly relieving Maxim and the narrator.

Maxim and the narrator see a crimson glow in the night sky and realize Manderley is burning.

The story begins with the unnamed narrator dreaming of Manderley from foreign exile, before flashing back to her courtship with the brooding widower Maxim de Winter in Monte Carlo. After a whirlwind marriage, she arrives at the grand Manderley estate and is immediately made to feel inferior by the sinister housekeeper Mrs. Danvers, who is devoted to the memory of Maxim's first wife Rebecca. The narrator's humiliation reaches its peak at the fancy dress ball when Mrs. Danvers tricks her into wearing Rebecca's iconic costume, exposing the full depth of the housekeeper's obsession. A ship running aground in the fog triggers the discovery of Rebecca's sunken boat and her preserved body, prompting Maxim's devastating confession that he murdered Rebecca and staged her death as a sailing accident. The crisis moves through the inquest and Favell's failed blackmail attempt before Mrs. Danvers takes her ultimate revenge, destroying Manderley by fire.

The headline events that drive Rebecca's central story.

The narrator first notices Maxim de Winter dining alone at a nearby table in the Monte Carlo hotel restaurant.

While Mrs. Van Hopper is ill, Maxim invites the narrator to share his table after she accidentally spills a flower vase.

Maxim drives the narrator to a clifftop summit and becomes suddenly distant, lost in dark and brooding thoughts.

The narrator discovers Rebecca's handwritten inscription to Max in a poetry book left in Maxim's car.

Mrs. Van Hopper announces her departure for New York and the narrator runs desperately to Maxim's hotel room.

The narrator cuts out and burns the page bearing Rebecca's handwritten inscription from the poetry book.

Mrs. Van Hopper warns the narrator she lacks the breeding and experience to be mistress of Manderley.

The narrator discovers Rebecca's bold handwriting labeling the pigeon-holes on the morning room writing desk.

Beatrice and Giles Lacy arrive for lunch at Manderley; Beatrice warns the narrator that Mrs. Danvers adored Rebecca.

Jack Favell is discovered secretly visiting Mrs. Danvers in Rebecca's west wing rooms at Manderley.

The narrator enters Rebecca's perfectly preserved bedroom and Mrs. Danvers forces her to handle Rebecca's intimate possessions.

Maxim confronts Mrs. Danvers about Favell's visit and orders her to keep him away from Manderley permanently.

Favell arrives at Manderley after the inquest and attempts to blackmail Maxim with Rebecca's final handwritten note.

Dr. Baker reveals that Rebecca was terminally ill with cancer and could never have borne children.

Mrs. Danvers vanishes from Manderley after receiving a mysterious long-distance telephone call.

These events chart the narrator's tentative path from shy companion to Maxim's second wife, beginning with their first cautious encounters in Monte Carlo while Mrs. Van Hopper lies ill. The narrator discovers unsettling traces of Rebecca everywhere — in a handwritten poetry inscription, in the labeled desk of the morning room, and ultimately in Rebecca's eerily preserved bedroom where Mrs. Danvers forces her to handle her predecessor's intimate possessions. The mysterious appearance of Jack Favell, Rebecca's secret lover, conferring with Mrs. Danvers signals a dangerous alliance working against the de Winters. After the inquest delivers a suicide verdict, Favell attempts blackmail with Rebecca's final note, setting in motion the investigation that leads to Dr. Baker's bombshell revelation that Rebecca was terminally ill and could never have borne children. The pool closes with Mrs. Danvers's chilling disappearance from Manderley after learning the truth.

The secondary moments that build Rebecca's haunted world.

Mrs. Van Hopper gossips that Maxim adored the brilliant, beautiful Rebecca and could not recover from her death.

Maxim tells the narrator that memories are bitter to him and her company helps him escape his despondency.

Maxim kisses the narrator's head and invites her for the first time to call him by his first name.

Mrs. Van Hopper plants the idea that Maxim does not truly love the narrator but only wants company in an empty house.

After her first dinner at Manderley, the narrator sits down in the library and realizes she is in Rebecca's chair.

The narrator accidentally tells a telephone caller that Mrs. de Winter has been dead for over a year.

Beatrice pulls the narrator aside after the ball and explains her costume was identical to Rebecca's at the previous Manderley ball.

The narrator confronts Mrs. Danvers in Rebecca's bedroom to challenge her about the deliberate costume trick.

Mrs. Danvers grips the narrator's arm at the open west wing window and urges her to jump, calling Rebecca the true Mrs. de Winter.

Captain Searle privately visits the narrator at Manderley to report a decomposed body found in Rebecca's sunken boat.

Maxim tells the narrator his only regret about his confession is that it has robbed her of her innocent, youthful look.

Favell formally accuses Maxim of murder in front of Colonel Julyan after his blackmail attempt is refused.

Ben is questioned by Favell and Colonel Julyan about what he witnessed at the cove but feigns ignorance and denies seeing anything.

Dr. Baker's files reveal that Rebecca booked her final medical appointment under the false name of Mrs. Danvers.

Colonel Julyan advises Maxim and the narrator to take a holiday abroad while he quietly spreads word of Rebecca's terminal illness.

This pool traces the emotional and psychological turning points that reshape the narrator's understanding of herself, her marriage, and the truth about Rebecca. From Mrs. Van Hopper's gossip planting seeds of insecurity to Maxim's tender first-name invitation, the narrator's feelings for Maxim are complicated by self-doubt from the very start. At Manderley, small humiliations accumulate — sitting unknowingly in Rebecca's chair, stumbling over a telephone call — until Mrs. Danvers's near-fatal psychological assault at the open window marks the story's darkest hour. The discovery of Rebecca's boat forces Maxim's confession, after which the narrator sheds her innocence entirely and becomes her husband's protector and partner. The final revelations — Dr. Baker's appointment filed under a false name, Colonel Julyan's discreet advice to flee — close the loop on Rebecca's calculated power to destroy those around her even from beyond the grave.