After Robert's departure, Edna tries to assuage her longing for him by spending more time with Madame Lebrun and inducing others, including Léonce, into conversation about Robert. She experiences no guilt about her feelings for Robert — or about getting her husband to talk about him — because she feels she is entitled to a private emotional life, a hidden self. Edna reveals her idea of the self in a conversation with Madame Ratignolle, insisting that although she would give her life for her children, she would not sacrifice her self, a distinction that Madame Ratignolle fails to grasp.
On her way to the beach for a swim, Edna encounters Mademoiselle Reisz, who tells her that within the last couple of years Robert had beaten Victor for being overly jealous of an apparently innocent relationship with Mariequita. Mademoiselle Reisz also invites Edna to visit her in the city after they have all returned for the winter.
