- We find Jade back on the island of Dominique. She has missed the daily ferry out to Isle des Chevaliers, so she calls up Ondine looking for a ride.
- Once on the island, Jade rides past the swamp where she almost sank and suffocated and remembers that way the tar burned her skin.
- Back at the main house, she meets Margaret and tells her she has just come to collect some things. She plans on flying to Paris the next day. She tells Margaret that she won't be marrying Ryk, though.
- From what Margaret says, it sounds like Valerian is getting sick with old age. If it gets any worse, she'll have to bring him back to Philadelphia. It sounds like Margaret is now master of the relationship, since the power roles between her and Valerian have reversed.
- Jade talks to Ondine and asks why Margaret is mad at Valerian, since she's the one who stuck pins in their baby. Ondine says that she hurt Michael because he was an extension of Valerian; it's the only way Margaret could take out her frustration on Valerian for always having power over her.
- Jade confesses to Ondine that she has spent nearly the entire year living with Son. She apologizes for never telling Ondine or Sydney about it. She says she has learned her lesson and won't make the same mistake again.
- Ondine knows that the main thing that Jade has come back for is her coat made from the fur of baby seals.
- They talk for a bit about how Valerian is just wasting away in his greenhouse and listening to music.
- Jade asks Ondine what she and Sydney are going to do, and even offers to have them come to Paris with her.
- At this, Ondine stops what she's doing and gives Jade a hard look. She says that she and Sydney have always made huge sacrifices for the sake of giving Jade everything. But it's time Jade heard the harsh truth. Gulp. That's never a phrase we like to hear.
- Basically, Ondine says that a girl can never learn to be a good woman until she learns to be a good daughter first. And the cornerstone of being of a good daughter is a sense of duty towards others. The hint here is that Jade doesn't have the right to fly around the world doing whatever she wants. She has a responsibility to Ondine and Sydney.
- Jade denies this, though, and says that her way of living is different from Ondine and Sydney's. Like the women of Eloe, Ondine and Sydney are threatening to pull Jade back into a life of poor black culture, at least so far as she can tell.
- In short, Jade tells Ondine that she never wants to be anything like her. When Ondine doesn't answer, Jade leaves to pack.
- Sydney enters the kitchen and talks to Ondine about how ungrateful Jade is. He feels totally betrayed by her and by the selfish, capitalist, jet-setting life she has decided to live.
- Ondine reveals that Son hit Jade during their relationship. Sydney says that he hopes Son comes to the house looking for Jade, so that he (Sydney) can put a bullet in his head.
- Sydney and Ondine worry about whether Jade will bury them and see to their funeral arrangements when they're dead and gone.
- After this chat, Sydney picks up a tray for Valerian and brings it to him in his greenhouse. He speaks to Valerian about he's been letting the house get rundown. Valerian doesn't want a lecture. He just wants to hear his music and to sit in peace.
- Sydney ignores Valerian's commands and drinks Valerian's glass of wine himself. He also tells Valerian what he should do, and the more Valerian tries to command him, the more Sydney ignores the orders. It looks like Valerian's frailty has reversed his power relationship with Sydney, too. Sydney is now the one in charge.
- In the following scene, we find Jade waiting for a flight at the Dominique airport. Looking around at the black women, she knows she needs to get back to her swanky life in Paris as soon as she can.
- Before she leaves, she goes into the airport bathroom to check her make-up. As she's doing this, a cleaning girl comes out of one of the stalls and sees her. The girl is Alma Estée, relative of Gideon and Thérèse, Valerian's former lackeys.
- The girl comes up to Jade and talks about how she took "the chocolate eater away" (10.186). She's referring to Son.
- Jade ignores the girl and turns away, thinking that she doesn't have any manners. She's not going to explain herself to some dumb local.
- Alma keeps on talking, though, and she asks Jade if she can send her a wig from America—the same one she tried to get Son to buy for her. Jade dismisses Alma's request quickly and walks away, calling her Mary. The last thing Alma does is whisper that her name is Alma Estée.
- Once she's on her plane, Jade mentally prepares herself to go back to the cosmopolitan life that she knows and loves. The chapter closes with a long description of how Jade will have a really tough time forgetting Son and what he taught her about the world.