- Now it's time for the big revelation: the two people in the boat are none other than (drumroll please…) Chad Newsome and Madame de Vionnet. Come on, don't act like you're that surprised.
- Plus, it's not like the two of them are just enjoying a day in the country. Strether can tell from the shock in Madame de Vionnet's eyes that he has caught these two doing something that doesn't quite fit into his moral code.
- And so at this moment, all of reality seems to come crashing down on Strether. He realizes that Chad and Madame have left Paris so they can find a nice quiet inn outside the city and, ahem, engage in a sexual relationship.
- Of course, Strether tries to act cool about it once he sees that Madame de Vionnet has recognized him. He waves from the shore and invites them to dinner. You know, because to walk away would be awkward.
- Once Chad and Madame get to shore, all of them are like, "Wow, what a coincidence! It's great to see you." While they're all thinking, "God, Strether totally knows about what's been going on this whole time."
- This is followed by a super awkward dinner, where Chad and Madame can only think about how ol' third-wheel Strether is blowing their chance at sex. While Strether is thinking that his whole life has been a lie since getting to Paris. He's not the cool guy he thought he was. Instead, he's the one gullible loser in Paris who was too naïve to see what was happening right in front of his eyes.
- Things are about to get real.
- When Strether leaves them and goes home, he realizes that all along, he's been allowing himself to enjoy Paris because he has enjoyed being among young women and men while still thinking to himself that he wasn't doing anything morally wrong. Which was a nice illusion, while it lasted.
- But now his image of a perfect Chad and perfect Madame de Vionnet has been shattered, and he doesn't know what to believe anymore.
- Worse yet, Chad and Madame's sexual relationship means that on some level, Sarah Pocock was right all along. Strether was just too blind to see it.
- Or worse still, he's actually known all along, but has been lying to himself. Will the cycle never end!