Researcher of the great poet Jeffrey Aspern comes to Venice to meet his former lover Juliana Bordero, who lives with her unmarried niece Tina in a large house and does not communicate with anyone. Juliana has Aspern’s letters that the hero of the story wants to take hold of, but she hides them from everyone and thwarts all attempts of Aspern’s biographers and admirers to get to know her. Knowing that she lives in poverty, the hero decides to rent several rooms from her. Obsessed with the idea of ​​getting letters, he is ready to drag himself behind his niece in order to achieve the goal. His old friend Mrs. Prest, with whom he checks his plans, exclaims: “Oh, look at her first!” In order not to arouse suspicion in Juliana, the hero appears in the house as an American traveler who wants to rent an apartment with a garden, and a garden in Venice is a rarity. Tina accepts him with timid bewilderment, but the hero's courtesy, his assertiveness and the promise to put the garden in order lead her to promise to talk with her aunt. With a sinking heart, the hero is waiting for a meeting with the legendary Juliana, who turns out to be a suspicious and greedy old woman, most interested in money. She asks the hero an exorbitant fee for the rooms, and he is even afraid that by agreeing to it, he will betray himself: not a single normal traveler would pay so much. But making sure that, talking about money, Juliana forgets everything in the world, the hero agrees. Juliana proudly demonstrates her ability to conduct business to the impractical and helpless Tina. She devotes money to Tina, adoring her and faithfully caring for her. The niece is sympathetic to the hero, and he hopes to find an assistant in her. The hero settles in with Juliana, but for a month and a half of life in the house he only sees Tina once - when he brings money, but he never sees Juliana. He hires a gardener and hopes to get the hostesses at home by sending them bouquets of flowers. Once, returning home at an inopportune hour, he meets Tina in the garden. The hero is afraid that he embarrassed her with his appearance, but she is glad to see him, and unexpectedly turns out to be very talkative. He tries to ask Tina about Aspern and finally admits that he is engaged in his work and is looking for new materials about him. Tina leaves in dismay. Since then, she has been avoiding the hero. But then one day he meets Tina in a large hall, and she invites him to talk with Juliana. The hero is worried, but Tina says that she did not say anything to Juliana about his interest in Aspern. Juliana thanks the hero for the flowers, and he promises to send them from now on. The hero always tries to make out in the greedy old woman the face of the former Juliana - the inspirer of Aspern, but sees only the old old woman who hides her eyes under an ugly green visor. Juliana wants the hero to entertain her niece, and he willingly agrees to take a walk with her around the city. Not spoiled by the attention of Tina more and more attached to the hero. She honestly tells him everything she knows about Aspern’s letters, but she only knows that they exist. She does not agree to take the letters from Juliana and give them to the hero - because that would mean betraying her aunt. The hero is afraid that Juliana would not destroy the letter. Juliana offers the hero to extend his stay in their house, but he has already spent so much money that he can no longer pay so expensive for housing. She agrees to a reasonable price, but the hero does not want to pay six months in advance and promises to pay on a monthly basis. As if in order to tease the hero, Juliana shows him a miniature portrait of Aspern, who is supposedly about to sell. The hero pretends to know does not know who it is, but he likes the artist’s skill. Juliana proudly says that the artist is her father, thus confirming the hero’s hunch about her origin. She says that in less than a thousand pounds she will not part with a portrait. The hero does not have such money, in addition, he suspects that in reality she was not going to sell the portrait.

A few hours later, Juliana becomes ill, and Tina is afraid that she is about to die. The hero is trying to find out from Tina where Juliana keeps Aspern’s letters, but in Tina two feelings struggle - sympathy for the hero and devotion to her aunt. She looked for letters, but did not find, and if she did, she herself does not know whether she would have given them to the hero: she does not want to deceive Juliana. In the evening, seeing that the door to Juliana’s room is open, the hero enters and reaches out to the secretary, where, as it seems to him, letters can be stored, but at the last minute he looks around and notices Julian on the doorstep. At that moment he first sees her unusually burning eyes. She hisses with fury: "The infamous scribbler!" - and falls into the hands of a niece who has arrived in time. The next morning the hero leaves Venice and returns only after twelve days. Juliana died, and she was already buried. The hero consoles Tina, asks her about plans for the future. Tina is at a loss and has not decided anything yet. She gives the hero a portrait of Aspern. The hero asks about his letters. He learns that Tina prevented Juliana from burning them. Tina now has them, but she does not dare to give them to the hero - after all, Juliana so jealously guarded them from prying eyes. Tina timidly hints to the hero that if he were not a stranger, if he was a member of the family, then she could give him letters. The hero suddenly realizes that this clumsy old maid loves him and would like to become his wife. He rushes out of the house and cannot come to his senses in any way: it turns out that he involuntarily inspired the poor woman with hopes that he cannot fulfill. “I can’t marry a miserable, absurd, old provincial for a bunch of frayed letters,” he decides. But during the night, he realizes that he cannot refuse the treasures that he had dreamed of for so long, and in the morning Tina seems to him younger and prettier. He is ready to marry her. But before he can tell Tina this, Tina tells him that she burned all the letters, leaf after leaf. The hero is getting dark in the eyes. When he comes to his senses, the spell dissipates, and he again sees in front of him a plain, baggy-dressed elderly woman. The hero is leaving. He writes to Tina that he sold the portrait of Aspern and sends a rather large amount that he could not help out, if he really wants to sell it. In fact, he leaves the portrait to himself, and when he looks at him, his heart aches at the thought that he has lost - of course, Aspern’s letters are meant.