Summary

Chapter 17 begins with a flashback to Sydney's reflecting on her reasons for taking Julian's wedding ring after it fell out of his pocket in her apartment one summer day after a tryst. The next day, Julian calls to ask if Sydney had found his wedding ring, but she lies and coyly points out that he was not wearing one. That winter, just weeks after David's stroke and with his blessing, Margot accepts a role in a new play for a trial run in Seattle that winter. Against her objections, she gets placed in the same hotel room with Sydney, also a cast member, whom Margot has known for years and never liked. In the bathroom one night, Margot notices that Sydney left her necklace by the sink and Margot is struck by the familiarity of the ring strung through it. She looks and...