- The next morning, Bradley and Rachel sit outside together on a bench in Soho, talking about the strange situation they've got themselves into.
- Rachel is upset—she feels as though the recent developments in her affair with Bradley have made it impossible for her to have a secret that she can keep from Arnold.
- As Bradley tries to figure out exactly what Arnold really believes about their little liaison, Rachel doesn't give him much help. She doesn't really care what Arnold actually thinks—she's more concerned about the fact that the ball is back in Arnold's court, either way.
- To reassure Rachel, Bradley suggests that the two of them should be very good friends. As he puts it, they don't need to have a romantic affair in order for her to feel that she has something separate and independent from Arnold. If the two of them develop a close personal friendship, she'll have some of the freedom and emotional independence that she craves.
- Rachel dismisses Bradley's suggestion and soon gets up and walks away.
- As he makes his way back home, Bradley notices that London is full of women just like Rachel—sad, middle-aged women whose aimlessness makes them seem more like sheep or cattle than human beings.
- Bradley takes another break from his narrative and addresses his "dear friend" and editor, P. Loxias, directly.
- As he takes stock of his feelings and actions up to this point in his story, Bradley devotes special attention to explaining his complicated relationships with Arnold Baffin and Priscilla.
- As he draws his comments to a close, Bradley spends a few minutes musing on the nature of human consciousness and on the difficulty of representing human consciousness accurately in literary works like this one.
- The morning, after his latest meeting with Rachel, Bradley is doing yet another round of packing—intending, once again, to get on a train out of London and head to the seaside cottage he rented for the summer. As he does, the telephone rings, and when he picks it up, Bradley hears his old friend Hartbourne on the line.
- Hartbourne has called to ask why Bradley missed the party that was given in his honor.
- Bradley, having forgotten about it completely, does his best to apologize.
- Almost as soon as Bradley puts the telephone down, the doorbell rings. When he opens the door, Bradley finds Julian Baffin waiting outside.
- Julian has come around to talk about Hamlet. Bradley, of course, had forgotten about their plans.
- Not wanting to be rude, Bradley invites Julian in to sit down, and the two of them begin to talk about Hamlet. Or, rather, Julian asks Bradley questions about Hamlet, and Bradley answers them as though he were the world's foremost authority on the works of William Shakespeare.
- Over the course of the "conversation," Bradley gets so swept up in his own thoughts about the play that he leaves Julian far behind. Although Julian interjects now and then to ask him to slow down and explain his statements more fully, Bradley just barrels along, lost in his own interpretation of the play.
- When Bradley finally does pause for breath, Julian remarks that she once played Prince Hamlet in a school play.
- Bradley is somewhat taken aback by this news, though he doesn't really know why. Feeling tired, he gets up to pour drinks for the two of them. And, feeling hot, he unbuttons his shirt all the way down to his waist, no longer worried about offending Julian by appearing before her in anything less than a full suit and tie.
- Bradley asks Julian to describe the costume that she wore when she played Hamlet, and after sharing a few more brief thoughts about the play, he changes the subject.
- Bradley and Julian chat briefly about her parents and talk briefly about her ambition to be a writer, and then Bradley tells Julian that she'd better leave.
- Before she goes, Bradley gives Julian a gilt snuffbox to replace the bronze water buffalo that he gave her and then took back the week before.
- As soon as Julian is gone, Bradley sinks to his knees in his sitting room, then lies facedown on the floor.