- About ten days after Ellen's departure for Washington, DC, May decides to hold a farewell dinner for Ellen.
- A day after Ellen had departed, Mr. Letterblair had discussed with Archer some arrangements Mrs. Manson Mingott had made to set up a trust for Ellen with sufficient funds so that she could live independently in Paris. Ellen will live with Marchioness Manson.
- On the evening of the dinner party, everyone arrives, including the van der Luydens, the Lefferts, the Selfridge Merrys, etc. Finally, Madame Olenska arrives but she and Archer don't have much of a chance to talk alone.
- Archer has a few polite words with Madame Olenska at dinner, and then he asks Reggie Chivers very loudly whether Chivers would like to travel the world with him. Chivers isn't into the idea, but Mr. Selfridge Merry uses this comment as an opportunity to talk about his adventures traveling the world.
- Later, in the library, Lefferts goes on about how vulgar the Beauforts are. Then the gentlemen join the women in the drawing room, where Archer is struck by how impossible the women have made it for him to talk with Madame Olenska.
- As Madame Olenska exits, Archer helps her on with her cloak and thinks he might have a few words alone with her. But Mrs. van der Luyden swoops in and says that Madame Olenska is going home with them.
- As the guests leave, Lefferts asks Archer to cover for him the next time, presumably so that Lefferts can have an affair with a typist.
- Later, Archer sits alone in the library when May comes in, wanting to talk about how wonderful the dinner party was.
- Archer tells May that he would like to travel, preferably someplace distant such as India or Japan.
- May says that would be quite impossible since she is (dun, dun, dun) pregnant. She doesn't say so explicitly, but it is understood between them.
- Archer is unpleasantly surprised.
- May says she knew she was pregnant since that morning, when she had told both her mother and his. She also tells Archer that she told Ellen when they had their conversation a couple weeks ago.
- Archer asks her how she could have, if she had only been certain of her pregnancy that morning. May admits that she wasn't sure, but she told Ellen anyway. It turns out she was right.