Summary

X (71-79) — One night at dinner, the couple offered Maria and Jerome to move into their house full-time, so they could focus totally on their art and not have to supplement their income with odd jobs. Evan expressed excitement at forming a pure artistic community, where Ugo, Maria, Jerome and himself could bounce ideas and techniques off of one another. Evan considers it unfair that he has been “blessedly free from . . . the tyrannies of the world” and in turns wants to offer that freedom to his artist friends (74).

Lily informs us that Jerome was different than the other artists (or “strays,” as Evan called them) (73). He grew up in a very wealthy family, and had recently dropped out of law school to pursue art. His rich mother would not let him work, and sent him checks monthly. The only...