- Strether is at some swanky joint and Chad, Miss Barrace, and the Vionnets are all in attendance. Madame de Vionnet marches right up to him and asks why Maria Gostrey has suddenly left Paris. Strether has no clue.
- Madame says she just got a sudden note from Maria saying that Maria has had to go to the south of France to visit a sick friend. Which sounds kind of made up. De Vionnet is worried that Maria doesn't like her.
- But she doesn't know what Strether does—that Maria doesn't want to get herself in the middle of the whole Chad drama.
- Plus, Madame de Vionnet wants Strether to stop being so cagey around her. If he feels like he's buddies with the new-and-improved Chad Newsome, well, that means he better get better with Madame de Vionnet too, since Chad is basically her creation.
- Strether breaks away from the conversation and wanders over to hang with Bilham some more. He asks Bilham if he would ever propose marriage to Jeanne de Vionnet. Bilham is shocked at the question, since he's just a poor artist and Jeanne is a Countess' daughter.
- Strether says off-handedly that Bilham is good enough for her. But the claim lacks conviction. Looks like he's just trying to get a rise outta someone…
- Bilham says that he needs to think of Chad's feelings. Strether, sensing a chance for information, tells Bilham that Chad isn't in love with Jeanne. Bilham agrees, but says that Chad is Jeanne's best friend and it might still be weird for Bilham to get involved with her. Like a bromance before romance sort of thing, but with some of the roles switched.
- They return to the oft-discussed idea that Chad's connection to Madame de Vionnet and her daughter is a totally "virtuous" one. Strether mentions that up until this moment, he never fully believed it. But now he does.
- Bilham agrees that the relationship between Chad and the Vionnets is one of the finest things he's ever seen.
- Don't forget, words like "fine" and "virtuous" are very vague.
- Bilham adds a comment about how a man usually can't care as much about a relationship as a woman can. He seems to be referring to Chad and Madame de Vionnet.
- Bilham says that things would be better if Chad got married. But it's tough because he loves Madame de Vionnet. Strether hears this and says, "You mean in a platonic way, right?" and Bilham pretty much says, "Uh yeah, sure."
- Strether concludes the conversation by saying that Chad shouldn't go back to America; he owes too much to Madame de Vionnet to leave her. Whoa, about-face!