Tender is the Night Book 3, Chapter 5

Nicole sat looking out the window at Villa Diana. It was a sunny April day. Dick was yelling at the cook, Augustine, for drinking one of his vintage wines, and she commented on Dick's heavy drinking. Dick fired Augustine, and she became furious. Dick told Nicole to call the police. Augustine calmed down and her nephew came and took her away. Nicole and Dick went to Nice for dinner and talked about how Augustine had upset them both. Nicole brought up a serious matter. She said to Dick, "We can't go on like this--or can we?....What do you think?... Some of the time I think its my fault--I've ruined you." Book 3, Chapter 5, pg. 267 Dick's silence scared Nicole. When Nicole asked him what was in it for him, Dick's reply was distant, and he said that he got to know that she was stronger every day. Dick told her that they had to think about people other than themselves. He looked out to sea and noticed a yacht, the T.F. Golding, and suggested that they ask the people on board if they are happy. He noticed that Baby knows one of the men on board.

The two pull up next to the boat and Golding recognized them and inviteed them aboard. Nicole reluctantly stepped on board to join the party. She and Dick had gained a reputation as refusers, and this had led to their unpopularity. They looked at the people dancing, and Nicole saw Tommy. She was very excited to see Tommy, and she marveled at his tan skin and his handsome face. She told him that he looked like "all of those adventurers in the movies." She had not seen him in five years. Tommy started speaking to her in French, but she wanted him to speak in English, because he sounded more brave and heroic in French. Nicole noticed a beautiful woman in white standing next to Tommy and she asked him who she is. He tells her she is Lady Caroline Sibly-Biers, the wickedest woman in London. Nicole walked around and found Dick talking to Lady Caroline, but she could only hear pieces of their conversation. She heard Lady Caroline's angry reply and knew that Dick had offended someone else.

Nicole walked over to the piano and heard a song, written by Lady Caroline, about a young lady from hell. Nicole was impressed by the strength and the attitude of Lady Caroline. Dick said something else rude about Lady Caroline, and she went over to him and said loudly, so that others would hear, that she had seen him hanging around a questionable crowd in Lausanne. Nicole was furious with Lady Caroline for making this statement, and furious with Dick for taking them there in the first place. Nicole knew that Lady Caroline was probably upset with her for stealing away Tommy's attention.

Dick was missing for a while and Nicole found him out on the deck by the bow. He turns to her and says, "So you ruined me, did you? ...Then we're both ruined..." Book 3, Chapter 5, pg. 273 Dick turned away and Nicole started to cry. Tommy found them and was glad that Nicole had found Dick. Dick asked Tommy if he was rich, and Tommy says no, but he still had some stocks in the hands of friends. Nicole told Tommy that Dick is getting rich. Golding went up to Nicole and told her that he noticed that Dick had been drinking too much, and that she should tell him not to. Nicole seemed amazed that he should suggest that she tell Dick what to do. Tommy drove Dick and Nicole home, and Dick fell asleep drunk in the back seat.