Summary

Chapter 17

Chapter 17 opens after several months have passed. The narrator has not been in touch with Edith, but there has been no further news of divorce or other scandal in the newspapers. His wife, Adela, is expecting a child and he has been busy. He sends word of the upcoming birth to Charles, who invites him to get in touch when he can.

Most of the people who were friends with Charles and his family before Edith left have abandoned her, with the exception of Annette Watson, whose husband has become very wealthy. The tables have turned between the Watsons and the Chases, in fact. Eric has hit hard times and the gossip is that it is Caroline's money that keeps them afloat. Bob Watson, who had once tried to use his connection to Eric to gain access to the upper classes in the...