- For the next ten days, Strether and Chad hang out and walk around Paris together. No matter how highly he thinks of Chad and Paris, though, Strether knows he can't let any of his good impressions show up in his letters back to Woollett.
- So, all he says is that there's no woman in Chad's life, although he knows that this will just prompt the inevitable question from Mrs. Newsome: well, what's keeping the two of you there?
- Strether buys himself some more time in Paris by saying that Chad will come back with him after he clears up some business. It's a gamble, but Strether wants a bit more vacay.
- Maria Gostrey tells Strether that she's not so sure about the idea that there's no woman in Chad's life. She said she could tell within five seconds of meeting the guy that there's something else keeping him in Paris, and she's pretty sure that something wears petticoats.
- Strether asks Maria if that'd mean that this woman is too bad for Chad to even admit to. But Maria says maybe it's the opposite: she might be too good for him to admit to, because she would make Chad's family feel inferior. According to know-it-all Maria, that's why Chad might keep the woman a secret.
- Strether can't believe that Chad wouldn't acknowledge a woman who's played a big part in turning him into a gentleman. But Maria ends the conversation by telling Strether that Chad isn't as good a guy as Strether might think. Yep, more suspense, more not speaking straightforwardly.
- Meanwhile, Strether continues to write vague letters back to Woollett to stall Mrs. Newsome and the rest of her nosy clan.
- One day, Chad invites Strether, Maria, and Waymarsh for tea at a fancy place called the Boulevard de Malesherbes. How lovely.
- After tea, Strether goes for a walk with Bilham (the artist) and asks him what Chad's "game" is. He knows there's some sort of deception going on, and he wants Bilham to come out and explain it.
- But Bilham is totally shifty on this question. He says that what Chad wants most of all is to be free to enjoy his new and improved self. Strether keeps on asking whether this means that Chad's seeing a woman or not, but Bilham won't come clean one way or the other.
- At least, not until he does. Bilham finally comes out and says there is someone in Chad's life, but that it's a "virtuous attachment." Strether has no problem buying the idea that Chad has a platonic, non-sexual relationship with someone in Paris. Which is totally fine as far as he's concerned.
- It turns out that Chad's "virtuous attachment" is to two women, a mother and daughter. Which is also fine, according to Strether. Though he is curious about whether the daughter is old enough to marry Chad, and has no clue how old either one is.
- Strether also speculates with Maria Gostrey that maybe Chad is in love with a woman who doesn't love him back. This would explain why he won't leave Paris. The question that remains is whether Chad's in love with the mother or the daughter.
- For the first time since way back at the beginning of the book, Strether brings up Mamie (you know, the young lady that Chad's family wants him to marry back in Woollett). He thinks that Mamie is prettier than any of the women he's met in Paris.
- At this point, Strether also lets slip that he hasn't mentioned his new "friendship" with Maria in any of his letters back to Woollett. We all know what that means.
- For the first time, Strether starts to wonder if Bilham flat out lied to him when he said Chad's attachment was virtuous. He realizes that he's still going to have to do some more sleuthing into Chad's life before he gets the concrete answers he wants.