As the story opens, an unnamed narrator explains, “The thousand of Fortunato I had borne as best I could; but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed .” There is no hint as to whom the narrator is speaking or writing, and the “thousand injuries” and the “insult” committed by Fortunato are never described. Nevertheless, the narrator contemplates his desire for revenge and his plan to “not only punish, but with impunity”; that is, to punish Fortunato without being or punished himself. Furthermore, he is determined not to act in secrecy, for Fortunato must know that his pain is handed to him by Montresor.

has no idea that Montresor is angry with him — Montresor has given no hint of it. When Montresor encounters his “friend” on the street one evening during the season, Fortunato has no reason to be suspicious. asks Fortunato to come with him and sample a large cask of , a type of wine, which Montresor has just purchased. Fortunato is justifiably proud of his ability to recognize good , and he is already drunk. He is easily persuaded to follow his friend, especially when Montresor assures him that if Fortunato cannot sample the wine for him, another man, , will surely do it.

Montresor and Fortunato, who is dressed in his carnival costume of striped clothing and a conical jester’s cap with , go to Montresor’s palazzo. Conveniently, the servants are away enjoying the carnival, and no one sees them enter. They descend a long, winding staircase to the wine cellar and , the dark and damp tunnels and caverns beneath the palazzo where generations of Montresors have been laid to rest. As they walk on, they pass piles of and piles of wine , intermingled in the passageways. Montresor fusses over Fortunato’s and his schedule, knowing that the more he suggests Fortunato give up the quest, the more his companion will be determined to see it through.

As they walk along, the men converse in an idle way, about the potentially hazardous forming on the walls, and the coat of of the Montresor family. To protect Fortunato from the damp, Montresor gives him drinks of two wines that are stored in the catacombs. When Fortunato reveals himself to be a member of the Masons, Montresor pulls a from beneath his cape and declares that he, too, is a mason. Always Fortunato is pulled forward by the promise of the Amontillado.

Eventually they reach the last chamber, a crypt nearly full of piled bones with only a small alcove of empty space within. When Fortunato steps to the back to look for the Amontillado, Montresor quickly him to two iron staples fastened to the . He uncovers a pile of building concealed beneath some of the bones and begins to build a wall, sealing Fortunato in. As Fortunato recovers from his drunkenness and becomes aware of what is happening to him, he cries out for , but Montresor pays no attention. He still refuses to speak of the offenses that have brought him to the point of , and Fortunato does not ask why Montresor is ready to kill him. Montresor finishes his wall and piles bones up against it, leaving Fortunato to .

In the last lines, Montresor the actor is replaced again by Montresor the narrator, who began the story. Now he reveals that the murder happened years before. In Latin he speaks over Fortunato’s body: “Rest in Peace.”