- Strether leaves his hotel with the aim of seeing Chad. Chad isn't back in Paris yet, so Strether decides to kill some time the same way he always does—by going to visit Maria Gostrey.
- For the next few days, Strether and Maria do everything together. They go to restaurants, see amusements, walk around, you name it. They don't do everything, but you get the picture.
- He knows that she has questions about the way he's acting, but she doesn't ask them.
- He realizes that as the days pass, he's getting stiffer around Maria and feeling more and more removed from her. She notices it, too, so one day she finally just asks him what's going on.
- He tells her that he knows about Chad and Madame de Vionnet, which, you guessed it, Maria has known all along. And that makes her just one more person who's been playing Strether like a fool.
- And this is it, she thinks. This is the big shock that will send Strether running back to Mrs. Newsome.
- It turns out that Madame has been in touch with Maria already and has been asking whether she's heard anything from Chad. The guy still isn't back in Paris and Madame is terrified that he has left her. Maria asks Strether if he's heard any word. But nope, he's none the wiser either.
- It also turns out that Madame has already told Maria about running into Strether out in the country. Gosh, these people are gossipy.
- Maria also admits that the true reason she left Paris when Strether first arrived was because she wanted to avoid his questions about Chad and Madame. She didn't want to have to lie to him, so she just avoided him.
- Some friend, right? At least that's what Strether thinks.
- Strether says that deep down, he still thinks the world of Madame de Vionnet. Maria wishes that Madame could hear Strether say that, but he probably wouldn't say it to Madame's face.
- Maria reports that Madame de Vionnet always felt like she was hiding from Strether because of her secret. But Strether says it takes two of tango, and that he is just as responsible for ignoring what was right in front of him.
- Finally, Strether tells Maria that he is leaving Paris. Maria feels bad for everyone in Paris, since they're losing such a wonderful man. Which is kind of cute, in a soppy make-ya-gag sort of way.