The novel immediately picks up after the previous otherworldly revelation. After seeing the ghost, the governess's facial expression from the perspective of Mrs. Grose suggests a significant shock has struck the former protector of the two 'angelic' children. Her awe is due to seeing a man who, later revealed to have been dead, actually being Peter Quint, the former valet of the master himself. Quint's reappearance and mysterious circumstances, coupled with the governess's amazingly accurate description, suggest that she is not hallucinating and that such appearances are real. Thus, the manifestation of Quint can be seen as the start of the tribulation that the previous governess (later revealed to be Jessel) had to face when caring for the children, the subsequent doom of the governess, at least in position, and the unraveling of the governess's mental fortitude in general. Also, the reemergence of Quint, who is mentioned to have had a particularly strong bond to Miles, foreshadows a likely parallel recurrence in the aforementioned negative traits that the boy has been so successful in suppressing from the governess. Flora, too, risks corruption of her angelic self to a more impish state due to her similarly strong bond to Jessel. 'Lady' Jessel, so-called due to her relatively high social standing, was taken in by Quint who is said to have a remarkable aptitude in procuring the women he is interested in. Basically, the cracks have already started forming, and the governess's fate is looking just as bleak as her two deceased predecessors.
However, the governess will not go down without a fight. She makes several deductions about the former guardians of the kids, thanks in part to the eternal help of Mrs. Grose. After pressing her senior with acute, yet circumstantial observations like Quint's previous mischievousness during the presence of Quint and the stare that Jessel only gave to Flora, the governess is able to infer that both of the kids had some sort of effect impressed upon them by the two former caretakers, an effect that was profoundly negative in relation to how the kids should have behaved in the governess's mind, or like perfect, pure children who learn only what she explicitly shows. Clearly, the governess is jumping to strange conclusions that will probably have some part in her downfall later on. As further proof of destruction, the governess's keen interest in the children appears to intensify to an obsession that might well lead to the new protector being outmatched by forces of supernatural quality.
As an interesting developmental observation, it is interesting to note that James also employs the use of all-capital words to accentuate general articles and verbs. Doing so further increases the inherent ambiguity emanating the novella. Plus, the strategic placing of stressed words serves to recover a small portion of interest lost due to the length and complexity of the script. Thirdly, the rather childish use of words in such a mannerism authenticates the mythical aspect of the novella that so encapsulates the ghost genre during and after the time period. By mimicking how the characters might have used them had they been real, the script likewise becomes more believable to the reader's subconscious in a very subtle way. No doubt the narrative aspect is improved due to a more genuine story therefore being synthesized. What remains to be seen is how Henry James will continue to capitalize on literary techniques and deliberate choices to retain the reader's interest whilst also keeping his famous aura of mysteriousness that so artfully permeates his writing.
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