Summary

Chapter 37 starts with a letter from May to Violet in which May explains to Violet their quiet life in a small town south of Paris. Later that day May opens a letter from Anna and finds a check from Louisa for $1,000 with the inscription “a wedding present for you” (319). May does not know what to make of the check, and tucks the envelope behind her painting of Orchard House on the wall. Later that week May visits her friend Mary in Paris to see her new paintings. May tells Mary she is enjoying married life, and Ernest is very supportive and encouraging of her art. Mary in turn shows her work she had been preparing for an Impressionist art show. The work is shocking to May, looking unfinished. She has difficulty hiding her surprise with Mary over the art, especially at the risks...