A few weeks after their return to New Orleans for the winter, Edna decides to be out of the house on her reception day—the one day of the week when custom demands that she stay at home to receive social callers. Léonce is incensed, insisting that her snub to the other ladies could hurt his business with their husbands. Also angry that the cook prepared a poor meal, asserting that she has grown lazy under Edna’s lackadaisical employment, Léonce leaves to dine at his social club. In contrast to similar incidences in the past, Edna does not lose her appetite but finishes her dinner deliberately. Then she goes to her room, where she throws her wedding band on the floor and stamps on it and smashes a vase on the hearth.
