- Waymarsh and Strether sit down for dinner and Strether has to admit that he barely knows the woman he went walking with.
- Waymarsh is a bit of a prude, and Strether knows that he doesn't approve one bit of this kind of behavior. Even though Waymarsh does know some of the families Maria Gostrey kept mentioning, he'd never heard of Maria. You can sense some real judgment sneaking in here.
- The three of them decide to take another stroll in the evening (this was before TiVo) to check out one of the English town's cathedrals. Before the stroll, Waymarsh and Strether go into the hotel garden to catch up on each other's news.
- If Strether is the kind of guy who can't enjoy life, Waymarsh is the kind who can't even tolerate it. From the moment he arrives, he criticizes nearly everything: from the size of his hotel room to the culture of Europe in general.
- The book goes into a pretty long description of Waymarsh, who is actually a tall, dark, and handsome man in his own right, despite his short, squat, and bland personality.
- That said, his grim outlook might be explained by the fact that he is separated from his wife, who now has a reputation for going around wearing heavy makeup and looking for new men.
- Yes, this sounds like your typical college breakup today, but back in 1903 (when this book was published), being separated from your wife (or g-f) would have been pretty scandalous.
- On top of that, Strether is also convinced that Waymarsh works so hard that he's on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
- Waymarsh opens their new conversation by saying he doesn't understand why Strether would need a vacation at all, since he's not sick. For Waymarsh, you see, the only reason to ever go on vacation is if your poor health is interfering with your productivity at work.
- Like we said, buzzkill.
- Strether says that before he left for his trip, he was feeling worn out. Waymarsh remarks that Strether doesn't look any more worn out than usual (remember what we said about encouragement that's secretly jabbing at you at the same time?).
- Waymarsh admits that there are lots of interesting things to see and do in Europe, but he doesn't feel "in tune" with things wherever he goes.
- In other words, Waymarsh likes the comfort of knowing where he stands in his home culture. He doesn't like the feeling of not being at home.
- Back to judgement-ville, Waymarsh says he suspects that Strether has a reason for being in Europe apart from the two of them hanging out. Strether admits that this is true.
- The fact is that he's been sent on a mission by his fiancée. Yup, you heard right. It turns out that there's a rich old lady named Mrs. Newsome who's waiting for Strether back in Woollett.
- Mrs. Newsome (don't worry, she's a widow) has sent Strether to Europe to track down her good-for-nothing son, Chad, and bring him back to New England to run the family business. In other words, Strether is supposed to be Mrs. Newsome's ambassador (TITLE!).
- The Newsomes are convinced that Chad is living a life of sin in Paris, and that some evil young woman has seduced him with unmarried sex (gasp!) into living there forever.
- Waymarsh says he already wants to go back to America. But Strether basically says, "Come awwwnnnn" until he gives up and agrees to come on the mission.