Summary

This section concerns pages 171-212 of the novel. In the present tense of the novel, Hans states that he is still working as a finance analyst for the same bank, but that he has been back in London for over a year, living with Rachel and Jake. He has become friends with a younger man named Cardozo, and, over after-work drinks, Cardozo tells Hans he plans to propose to his girlfriend, and asks him for advice on married life. Thinking once again of his marriage to Rachel, Hans returns to the narrative to his memories of the past.

Three years before the conversation with Cardozo, Hans is on a weekend visit to his wife and son when Jake mentions the name "Martin." After asking Rachel about "Martin" (who bursts into tears), Hans discovers that she is seeing another man, a renowned London chef named...