- By this point, Strether has made it to Paris. He pops into a place where he's supposed to receive some letters from America. He hasn't. He's kind of bummed about it.
- He's such an anxious dude that he's worried about doing anything in Paris—namely enjoying himself in any way—without some sort of permission from Mrs. Newsome in a letter.
- Yeah, the dude's starting to sound a little whipped.
- As a sort of self-punishment, he hangs out with Waymarsh for the rest of the day.
- The next day in Paris, there are letters, and Strether greedily reads them. But he also wants to find an ideal place to read and respond to the letters, so he spends a good chunk of his afternoon wandering around Paris and looking for seats in cafés. Yeah, that can take up a whole bunch of pages when you're Henry James.
- He finally finds a spot in some public gardens and sits down in a chair to read. Meanwhile, he's been drinking in all the beautiful sights of Paris. The air is sweeter than back home, the birds sing more beautifully, the trees…well, you get the picture.
- Mrs. Newsome's letters say that she doesn't want him to worry about anything that's not connected to his mission of bringing back Chad. The whole order not to worry thing gives him a huge sense of freedom that helps him enjoy the sights of Paris even more, since now he feels like he has permission to do so.
- Strether also realizes just how weary he was when he left America. He feels rejuvenated by being able to walk around Paris alone.
- But not everything is happy for him. He also can't enjoy Paris without thinking about how he's wasted his life being an anxious, play-it-safe kind of guy.
- Finally, Strether is able to admit to himself what he actually thinks: he's envious that Chad gets to live as a young, wealthy bachelor in this kind of city. Chad mentioned in some of his past letters (back when he was still responding) that he'd become friends with a group of super cool artists living in Paris, and Strether just can't bear how jealous he is.
- But he also reminds himself that Chad is (probably) sleeping around, and this is something Strether could never envy because it's immoral…heh heh.
- During one of his walks, Strether comes to the building where Chad is supposed to be living. He knows that Chad's giant apartment is up on the third floor, and as he glances up, Strether sees a young man staring down at him from the third floor balcony.
- He's a little freaked by the fact that he's been watched, but he also realizes that this young man isn't Chad, but some other guy hanging out in his apartment.
- And we just have to find out who this dude is. What if he's murdered Chad and stolen his identity? We'll just have to keep reading to find out.