- We find ourselves back in New York City with Clarissa Vaughan, who is shepherding an elderly woman into her apartment.
- That elderly woman is Laura Brown.
- Clarissa brings Laura into the sitting room, where Julia tells Clarissa about the people who showed up for Richard's party and had to be sent away with the bad news.
- As Julia and Sally go into the kitchen to make tea and put out some food, Clarissa and Laura sit together on the couch.
- As they sit together in silence, Clarissa thinks of everything she knows about Laura—that she tried to commit suicide when Richard was young, and that later she left her family for good.
- Tentatively and awkwardly, the two women start to talk about Richard.
- Soon, feeling overwhelmed, Clarissa goes into the kitchen to check on Julia and Sally.
- There, Clarissa finds the food for the party laid out for them to eat. After thinking for a moment about life and death, she returns to the living room and invites Mrs. Brown to come in and eat.