The chapter opens with a letter from Will to his mother in which he expresses his disillusionment with the fast-paced and materialistic life of an expatriate in New York, and he informs her he is moving back to England.

Louisa spends her days job-hunting but is unable to find anything because of her lack of references; she meets Josh for lunch every couple of days, and he casually kisses her every time he leaves. Finding it difficult to keep sharing Nathan’s small space with him, Louisa contemplates going back home. She bitterly realizes how Agnes has “discarded [her] as comprehensively and completely as a lizard sheds its skin” (236).

One evening Louisa finds Dean Martin alone outside the building, and when she takes him back inside to Mrs. De Witt’s, she finds Mrs. De Witt lying unconscious in her living room. Louisa calls 911 and accompanies Mrs. De Witt to the hospital, who wakes up before the paramedics arrive; she requests that Louisa look after Dean Martin while she is in the hospital.

When Louisa gets back from the hospital, she explores Mrs. De Witt’s apartment and finds it is filled with racks and racks of fashion label clothes, accessories, and jewelry as well as framed clothes designs and fashion magazine covers.