As days pass, Ralph begins to grasp what Clare told him: Undine’s remarriage will make him freer. He will possess himself more completely with there being no chance of Undine coming back to him. Her new marriage will cut the last link between them.

Although Undine has not yet received the annulment for which she is pushing, Ralph knows that once Undine wants something, she does not stop until she gets it. One way or the other, she will eventually remarry. He remembers Undine’s failure with Van Degen. In that case, Ralph believes Undine was too immature and inexperienced to understand that Van Degen is not a typical man. He was constrained by social custom. Undine did not conceive of how deeply and compelling those customs were to Van Degen. From what he has heard, Ralph senses that Raymond de Chelles is a very different man. He is probably as emotionally wrapped around Undine as Ralph once was.

That he can think of Undine so rationally makes Ralph understand how far he has come in his own recovery. He has traveled a long distance from the broken man he had been when Undine first left him. But as Ralph once again begins to fully enjoy his life, something occurs that upsets his stability. One night his mother greets Ralph with the news of a strange message from a stranger on the phone. His mother was not accustomed to addressing problems she does not expect, and she is flustered and unclear. At first Ralph believes she did not understand the message properly. His mother thinks the caller may have been Mrs. Spragg, but it did not sound like her. The woman caller had said something about sending someone to “fetch” the boy so he could leave on a steamer. They should have his clothes packed.

Ralph is confused and promises to go to the Spraggs’ residence to straighten out the matter. On his way out the door, he sees that a letter has been delivered. It is from Undine’s lawyers. The letter states that Undine is now in a position to offer her son a home. It contains a statement that hits Ralph hard: a reminder that the courts awarded Undine sole custody of their son.

Ralph’s head spins as he reads the letter. He vaguely recalls the court proceedings during the divorce. He had not paid much attention to them. At the time, Undine had no inclination to take the boy with her. All she wanted was financial support, which Ralph was all too eager to give her. He had felt if he supported her, she might still come back. He also remembers his family entreating him to keep things quiet and free of scandal, so he had not fought for the right to his own child.

Ralph hurries over to his lawyer, but the attorney tells Ralph there is nothing he can do. Ralph signed the papers at the time of the divorce, and now Undine has the legal right to take her son. Ralph then goes to the Spraggs’ hotel. Mr. Spragg is empathetic, but he knows there is nothing he can do. All he says is that he wishes Ralph had fought for his son while they were negotiating the divorce.