Part 1, Chapter 6 Summary

It is 10:30 p.m. and Anna and Thomas are out at the theatre. Matchett slowly creeps into Portia's room; she is awake. Nights like these, when the Quayne's are out, are the only nights in which Matchett dares to come up and wish Portia goodnight.

Matchett crosses the room and opens the curtains; the park is eerily silent, as if it is unaccustomed to being soundless. Portia asks Matchett: What was it like the day that she was born?

Matchett replies that it was a clear and sunny day when she heard from Mrs. Quayne that Portia had been born, and that she said something appropriately neutral. See, on that day, no one—not Thomas nor Matchett—really knew what to say or how to react. They each waited for a clue as to an appropriate reaction from Mrs. Quayne herself...