- The evening after meeting with Sarah, Strether heads back to Madame de Vionnet's place. He's been looking for Chad, but can't find him, so he heads to Chad's apartment and lets himself in. (People were a lot less careful about locking doors in those days).
- Standing on Chad's balcony, he looks out over the city and thinks about the first day he arrived in Paris. Lots has changed since then. In case you hadn't noticed.
- Finally, in the middle of the night, Chad gets back home. Strether confronts him about how he (Chad) sold Strether out and told Sarah that staying in Paris was all Strether's idea. They were supposed to be in on this together. Chad says he didn't say anything of the sort: Strether must have been tricked!
- Strether tells Chad that Sarah is afraid of him (Chad). She's been exposed to a world outside Woollett and she wants to retreat from it immediately, to go back to her small town where she and her family are big shots. Basically, she's insecure and wants to feel powerful again.
- The two of them come to the conclusion that the Newsomes will never be able to leave Chad to be happy in Paris. They're kind of like the old person living in the apartment beneath yours who's always hitting the ceiling with a broom to tell you to keep it down.
- Quite frankly, the Newsomes hate fun, and they hate it even more when other people are having fun. Kind of like Waymarsh.
- Strether also informs Chad that the Pococks' trip to Paris hasn't been to report back on Chad, but to report back on Strether himself. Chad asks if this means that things are broken off between Strether and Mrs. Newsome, and the only answer Strether can give is, well, probably.
- In a tactful way, Chad asks if Strether will be able to survive financially without Mrs. Newsome's help. Strether again says, probably.
- Strether counters with the question of whether Chad is prepared to give up the fortune he'll inherit in order to stay in Paris. Chad says he doesn't really care about money.
- Strether says he needs to meet with Sarah Pocock one last time before she leaves. Chad says he can't imagine what good this will do (and it just sounds like pure punishment to us), but Strether tells Chad that he just doesn't get it because he has no imagination.
- Chad admits that this is true, but it's okay because he's still charming and handsome. He also tells Strether that he (Strether) might suffer from too much imagination. After all, isn't that what paranoia is?
- Think about it.