Wynand falls in love with Dominique. Her idealism — an ineradicable devotion to the highest achievements possible to man — is exceptional. Wynand, for all his pandering, retains in his soul a similar undying commitment to man at his noblest and best. He is drawn to Dominique for her best qualities. Dominique goes with Wynand for a cruise on his yacht, the I Do. He proposes marriage to her. Dominique, motivated by the same reason that impelled her to marry Keating, accepts. In effect, she marries more than a man, she marries The New York Banner and every tawdry value it stands for. She becomes "Mrs. Wynand Papers," and will seek to torment her husband for the cheap vulgarity of his journalism — and, above all, for his campaign against the Stoddard Temple.
When Dominique and Wynand return from the cruise, she is still married to Keating. Wynand buys Keating's consent to a divorce with a signed contract for the Stoneridge project and a check for a quarter of a million dollars. Keating, humiliated by his own lack of backbone, collects his group of friends and takes them out drinking. Keating is eager to pay for everything and gives exorbitant tips. As they consume the liquor, Keating asks repeatedly, "We're friends — aren't we friends?" His comrades nod in agreement. The blurred eyes looking back at him are soft and comforting.
Before leaving for Reno to obtain a divorce, Dominique visits Steven Mallory at his home. She has not seen Roark for twenty months. Once in a while during this period, she has called on Mallory. He understood that those rare evenings were moments in which she ached for a sight of her homeland, and that she could permit herself just a few of those moments. Entering Mallory's studio after a lengthy absence, Dominique observes the sudden prosperity reflected in his new possessions and realizes it is a result of Wynand's patronage — that Wynand, after examining the statue of Dominique, desired other works by the same sculptor and chose only the best. Though Mallory has purchased various new artworks, Dominique observes that his walls are bare. He has added no paintings. A single sketch hangs over his studio — Roark's original drawing of the Stoddard Temple. When they are seated side by side, he tells her what she desires to know without her asking. Roark is in Clayton, Ohio, constructing a new building for Janer's Department Store. He tells her it is five stories tall and located on Main Street; Roark has been there for about a month.
