Day Two, Morning, Salisbury
- Stevens wakes up very early in the morning, before anyone else in the guesthouse. He pores over Miss Kenton's letter again.
- Miss Kenton, he has to remind himself, is now Mrs. Benn. It seems that she has left her husband, but the details aren't clear. In the letter, Miss Kenton (which he still calls her) reminisces about a maid, Alice White, as well as an incident involving his father.
- Stevens flashes back to the incident in question. Miss Kenton and Stevens Sr. both arrived at Darlington Hall in the spring of 1922. Miss Kenton came to replace the housekeeper, and Stevens Sr., now quite elderly, came to take the position of underbutler. Maybe it was weird for ol' Stevens Sr. to work under his son, but he was way too professional to say anything about it.
- From the beginning, Stevens and Miss Kenton did not get along. When she arrived with some flowers for his pantry, he scolded her for calling his father by his first name, William.
- Next Miss Kenton chided Stevens for leaving his dustpan in the hall, when it was clearly his father who left it there.
- Then Miss Kenton found some of the silver smudged and hinted that Stevens Sr. wasn't doing a good job polishing it.
- Finally Miss Kenton pointed out that Stevens Sr. misplaced a sculpture. She voiced her opinion that he couldn't handle all the tasks that had been given to him.
- Stevens flashes forward to a conversation he had with Lord Darlington in his study.
- Darlington had been entertaining guests at his summerhouse the week before. Stevens Sr. had fallen while crossing the lawn to the summerhouse, dropping everything on his tray. Darlington told Stevens that he had to relieve Stevens Sr. of some of his duties.
- Stevens had a chat with his father, who protested that he only tripped because the steps were crooked.
- Later Miss Kenton called Stevens to the window. They could see Stevens Sr. retracing his steps up to the summerhouse, looking at the ground "as though he hoped to find some precious jewel."
- Stevens turns his attention back to his road trip and thinks about his drive to Salisbury the day before. He had stopped for a hen to cross the road. A woman picked up the hen and thanked him.
- Stevens then returns to his reminiscing, flashing back to a conference Lord Darlington convened at Darlington Hall in March 1923.
- After World War I, Darlington grew concerned about conditions in Germany. He felt the terms the Allies had imposed upon the Germans were inhumane. A German friend of his, Herr Bremann, had grown more and more despondent and finally shot himself. The conditions in Germany had convinced Darlington to become more involved in international affairs—hence the conference.
- In the days leading up to the conference, Stevens noticed that his father seemed to have renewed energy.
- Miss Kenton, on the other hand, was peeved at Stevens's constant little reminders and told him to communicate with her by messenger.
- Sir David Cardinal and two Foreign Ministers had already arrived when Darlington called Stevens into his study. Very awkwardly, he asked Stevens to have a chat with Sir David's son, who was engaged to be married, about the facts of life—i.e., sex. Stevens agreed.
- Stevens found the junior Mr. Cardinal in the library and tried to initiate "the talk," but Mr. Cardinal thought Stevens was talking about foreign affairs.
- Before Stevens could take another crack at "the talk," Mr. Lewis, an American senator, arrived. Over the next couple days, two ladies from Germany and an Italian gentleman also arrived.
- In the middle of making arrangements for his guests, Stevens noticed Mr. Cardinal in the garden. He again tried to have "the talk" with him but only managed to get in a chat about the "glories of nature."
- In the middle of "the talk," Monsieur Dupont, a French diplomat, arrived, so Stevens rushed off to greet him.
- That evening Stevens accidentally overheard Mr. Lewis, the American senator, bad-mouthing Darlington and the others to Monsieur Dupont.
- The first morning of the conference, all of the delegates met in the drawing room. At one point Monsieur Dupont pulled Stevens aside and asked him to help change the bandages on his feet. Stevens guided Monsieur Dupont to the billiards room to wait for his nurse.
- Then a footman interrupted to let him know that his father had taken ill upstairs. Stevens helped his father up to his room and a doctor was called.
- On the second day, Stevens could only find time to see his father in the evening. They had a brief chat.
- In the banquet room that evening, the delegates had a final dinner, ending with toasts. Darlington's toast was idealistic. Monsieur Dupont took Mr. Lewis to task for being so underhanded and backstabby. And Mr. Lewis denounced everyone as being hopelessly naïve about politics. Darlington defended the concept of honor to Mr. Lewis, which everyone applauded.
- After the banquet Miss Kenton alerted Stevens to his father's deteriorating condition, but Stevens continued to serve his guests. The doctor was called, but Stevens Sr. died before he got there.
- Monsieur Dupont asked Stevens for help with his bandages, and Stevens assured Dupont that the doctor, who was actually called to attend to his father, was on his way.
- Stevens finally went upstairs to see his dead father but quickly ushered the doctor downstairs to attend to Monsieur Dupont.
- Stevens's is happy remembering his behavior during the conference, feeling that he had acted with "dignity."