When May first sees Archer, she worries that something bad has happened. He is not supposed to be in Florida. He quickly assures her that everything is all right. Then he kisses her. It is such an intense gesture that May pulls back as if his kiss embarrassed her. It was the only time he had kissed her on the lips, and it has shaken her. To ease the tension, Archer asks her to tell him what she does all day in Florida. May rattles off all her daily activities, such as tennis, swimming, and sailing. The discussion of these chatty subjects calms her nerves.

Later in the day, when May’s mother has Archer to herself, she profusely thanks him for convincing Ellen not to go through with a divorce. Mrs. Welland feels convinced that the idea of the divorce was making her husband ill. She then confides in Archer that she believes Ellen thinks quite differently from the rest of the family. In Mrs. Welland’s mind, Ellen is completely “Europeanised.” Archer feels he must come to Ellen’s defense. He counters Mrs. Welland by saying that Europeans are not in favor of divorce. Then he adds that Ellen is trying to conform to American ideas, in that people gaining freedom is an American ideal. It does not help him that he blushes at the mention of Ellen’s name. However, Mrs. Welland seems not to notice. She merely uses Archer’s comment to confirm her initial statement. She says that what Ellen is doing is exactly what all Europeans do: They invent myths about Americans, giving them qualities that are not valid.

As Mrs. Welland continues to comment about Ellen, Archer continues to contradict her, though he says them only silently to himself. He wants to tell May’s mother that if she and the rest of the family do not stop pressure Ellen to live according to their beliefs instead of her own, Ellen might well end up as Beaufort’s mistress. Archer wonders what Mrs. Welland would think if he were to actually vocalize his thoughts. He imagines that Mrs. Welland’s fixed glaze of innocence that she had manufactured on her countenance over the years might actually crack. He hopes that May will not one day have that same, fixed glaze. This is the last thing he would want for his future wife. He prefers that May cultivate an open mind. He wants her imagination to bloom and her heart to gain as much real experience as possible.

Later in the day, May catches an expression on Archer’s face or in some other way senses that he is not being fully honest with her. When Archer once again presses May to shorten their engagement, she wants to know if Archer fears that his love for her will not last the year. She then tells him that she has noted a change in him ever since they announced their engagement. This, of course, also coincides with Ellen’s arrival in Archer’s life. This distracts him while May is talking to him. May continues to express herself, and he discovers that she thought Archer might still have feelings for the married woman with whom he had an affair. Archer feels relieved when this detail emerges.

However, Archer is also disappointed. For a while he thought May was developing an independent stance. She appeared to be opening her mind. She had stated that she believed that when two people felt a certain way about one another, they should be strong enough to go against public opinion. May said this thinking Archer was possibly in love with someone else. She wanted him to be honest with her. Later, though, after the misunderstanding is cleared, Archer realizes that May is not as progressive as he thought she might have become. He still cannot convince May to go against convention in another way—to shorten their engagement. May is not strong enough to consider his argument. She has fallen back into her “helpless and timorous girlhood.” Her mind is once again closed.