Maria Gostrey Timeline and Summary

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• Maria spots Strether from across the lobby of a hotel and hears him say the name Waymarsh. She happens to know Waymarsh through a friend of a friend, and she strikes up a conversation with Strether.
• They become fast friends, and she boldly invites him to take a walk with her. Yep, that is fast.
• After Waymarsh arrives, Maria continues to hang out with Strether. They go everywhere together and she shows him all of the best sights. She even agrees to travel to Paris when he does.
• When Strether gets to Paris, Maria invites him to the theatre, where the two of them run into Chad Newsome for the first time.
• It turns out that Maria knows the woman responsible for Chad's transformation, Madame de Vionnet. After this, she falls off the map and goes to the south of France to visit a sick friend, which sounds to Strether like something she just made up.
• Maria shows up back in Paris and gives Strether a supportive ear whenever he needs to vent about what's going on with Chad, Sarah, and Mrs. Newsome. She always understands and keeps reassuring Strether that he's a good man.
• When Strether demands to know why Maria left him alone in Paris, she says that it's because she wanted him to learn to be independent, which is something no other woman has ever given him.
• Later though, Maria also admits that she was avoiding Strether because she knew the truth about Chad's relationship with Madame de Vionnet and didn't want to lie to Strether about it.
• When Strether decides to leave Paris, Maria begs him to stay so that they can be together. But Strether refuses.
• Heartbreak galore for Maria.