Summary

This chapter is narrated in the third-person, past tense. In the chapter, the narrative voice switches between flashbacks to the past, the present action of the story, and also projects into the future that has not yet occurred, and which will not occur in the pages of the story itself.

The story begins in the past, when Patty Nicely's husband, Sebastian, was still alive. The two were getting ready for the day when Patty saw a television program interviewing Lucy Barton. The narrative then shifts to the present, and Patty realized that she remembered this moment because she had told Sebastian (Sibby) about how Lucy Barton and her family were poor and mostly outcasts from the town. Sebastian had been interested in the story, asking Patty questions about Lucy, and Patty remembered that her mother had invited Lucy's parents to Patty's older sister's wedding...