Part 2 Basel, pages 13-49 Summary

Nathan tries to understand Henry's recent situation. Henry has died, and the preceding text in italics began as Nathan's attempt at a eulogy. Many people attend Henry's funeral. Nathan notices a girlish looking young woman sitting toward the back, and he recognizes the woman as Wendy from a photo that Henry had once showed him. As Nathan looks at Wendy and fails to find her attractive, he thinks he should have tried harder to talk Henry out of having the surgery. Nathan thinks about his childhood with Henry, and then he thinks about Henry's affair with Maria. Perhaps Henry regarded his affair with Wendy as a consolation for having to end the affair with Maria.

Nathan sits with Carol and Henry's children. Carol tells the children that Nathan is too shaken to deliver a eulogy, so she...