Tender is the Night Book Two, Chapter Twenty-Three Summary

  • Around 4am, the hotel concierge wakes Baby and tells her Dick’s in trouble.
  • She goes immediately to the jail, and finds Dick. He tells her "they’ve put out his eye."
  • She tries to get him out of there, but can’t and goes first to the American Embassy. She gets contact info for the Consul, and a doctor. Nothing will be open until 9am.
  • She decides to go to Collis for help, and finds him naked on his bed.
  • She and Collis go visit Dick in jail. She leaves Collis with Dick and goes to find the doctor and the Consul.
  • She finds the Consul, who doesn’t want to help. But Baby Warren is hard to say no to, and she gets him to take action.
  • Dick is feeling pretty low, like the only thing that can save him is dying.
  • The people from the Consulate come and take Dick to court to get him released by a judge.
  • In the courtroom, the spectators hiss and boo Dick as he walks by. They mistake him for a child rapist who is also due in court.
  • Dick is granted release. But he’s still messed up and doesn’t think any of this is his fault. Yet he identifies with the guilt of the child rapist, and is babbling about how maybe he is the child rapist.
  • Dick gets a shot of morphine from the doctor and falls asleep in his hotel. Baby and Collis wait with him until a nurse comes to care for him.
  • Baby feels good. It wasn’t an easy time, but now she knows Dick is further under Warren control and it will be easier for them to keep him around.