When Brett and the Count visit Jake's apartment, Jake tells Brett he loves her and asks if they can live together. She replies that doing so is impossible because she would be tempted to cheat on him. She also tells him that she is about to travel to San Sebastian, a coastal town in the Basque region of Spain. Later, Brett admits to Jake that she feels miserable, apparently due to her unfulfilled love for him.
Jake receives a postcard from Brett in San Sebastian, as well as a note from Cohn saying that he's leaving the country for a while; it is rumored that Frances has gone to England. Jake's friend Bill Gorton visits Paris, severely intoxicated. They are joined by Brett, back from San Sebastian, and Mike Campbell, her fiancé. Mike, too, is falling-down drunk.
Jake writes to Robert Cohn in Spain to say that he and Bill will meet Cohn at Bayonne (near the French-Spanish border) to go fishing together near the Spanish village of Burguete. Mike invites himself and Brett along, and they arrange to rendezvous in the nearby town of Pamplona. Then Brett reveals to Jake that Cohn was with her in San Sebastian. Jake and Bill depart Paris via rail and arrive in Bayonne in the evening. The next morning, Jake, Bill, and Cohn travel to Pamplona; however, Brett and Mike are not on the train they were scheduled to take. The following day, Jake and Bill go fishing as planned. Cohn has announced his decision to remain in Pamplona. For five days, Jake and Bill hear nothing from Cohn, Brett, or Mike. While fishing, they befriend an Englishman named Harris.
