Part 3 - The Present - Chapters 1 and 2 Summary

Chapter 1 - The action of this chapter picks up where the end of Part 1 left off - the point at which Miss Fisher (Naomi) announces to Leopold and Henrietta that Leopold's mother (referred to in narration as Mrs. Forrestier) is not coming. At first, Leopold reacts dispassionately, responding in ways that taunt and upset Miss Fisher. He later tells Henrietta, once Miss Fisher has gone upstairs in answer to a summons from Madame Fisher, that he wanted to say such things only to hear how they would sound. Narration describes how Henrietta "would grow up to date her belief that nothing real ever happens from Leopold's mother's not coming this afternoon." As she and Leopold contemplate each other and their situation, however, narration suggests that while they're physically distant and apparently...