Summary

Floyd DeBeers takes George out on is boat, and they talk about marriage and children. George reflects that Franny is the only thing keeping them together.

The next scene is of George growing up on the Long Island Sound learning how to sail with his cousin Henri. In addition to being artistic and philosophical, George suspected Henri was gay, and George followed him around “like a caddy” (207). When George was 13, Henri drowned in a boating accident. At his funeral, George stole his journal, then destroyed it before leaving for college. He considers the theft the “defining moment in his life” (208).

DeBeers and George continue to talk philosophically, particularly about death and Swedenborg. George thinks there is no meaning to life, and cannot decide if he would change any of it.

Later that night, George and Catherine go...