Summary

The last few chapters are narrated in the past tense like the first few. In Chapter 28, Erica remembers how she met Charmian in London, coincidentally, years after leaving Hydra. Erica told Charmian that she was living with a man who was a writer. Charmian voiced concern that Erica was in a domesticated situation much like her own with George. Charmian did finally tell Erica that her mother, Constance, had an affair with a man named Joe L., whose name Erica had misheard as “Joel” years prior on Hydra. Erica, narrating in the past tense, reflects how she was unknowingly pregnant when she saw Charmian.

Erica returned to Hydra years later, which is depicted in Chapter 29. Like her encounter with Charmian, Erica coincidentally saw Marianne and had a conversation with her. Erica had by then divorced her husband; Marianne too had split up...