- Mr. Gascoigne tells Gwendolen that everything is all set for her interview with Mrs. Mompert – she'll go see her in a week. He neglects to tell her that rumor has it that Grandcourt is back in town.
- When Mr. Gascoigne leaves the room, Gwendolen bursts into tears and feels sorry for herself. If she's unhappy now, and she's young, then when will she ever be happy? Never, duh!
- The narrator basically says that people <em>our</em> age know forget what it's like to be young and have these concerns.
- Gwendolen feels helpless – and the narrator suggests that it's partially because Gwendolen has been so spoiled up until now.
- Our girl Gwen continues moping around, thinking about how sad her mother is, and deciding that she (Gwendolen) is even sadder.
- Mrs. Davilow walks into the room with a letter from Grandcourt. In the letter, he asks if he can come visit the next afternoon.
- Mrs. Davilow urges her daughter to answer the letter. Gwendolen knows that Grandcourt means business – that is, he's probably going to pop the question to her – and she needs to decide right now whether or not she should accept him.
- Gwendolen writes back to Grandcourt and tells him to come visit the next day.