The day after her meeting with Clare, Irene is busy packing her clothes. It is time for her to leave Chicago and return home to New York. As she is filling her suitcases, a letter arrives for her. Although she had never previously received a letter from Clare, she senses that Clare sent it. Irene tears open the envelope and glances at the signature to confirm her suspicions. As soon as she sees Clare’s name, she stuffs the note into her purse without reading it. She simply wants to get the letter off her mind as she finalizes her preparations to leave. Once she says her good-byes and is on her way back East, Irene cannot resist the temptation of finding out what Clare could possibly say about the horrible meeting they shared the previous day.

In a slight way in her letter, Clare apologizes for having put Irene in such uncomfortable circumstances. But Clare then attempts to justify having invited Irene by stating how glad and happy she felt to see her again. She thinks that if Irene knew how much she longed to be reunited with everyone from her childhood, maybe she would forgive her. At the end of her letter, Clare adds a postscript, stating since meeting with Irene, she is questioning if she had made the right life choice. Maybe she should have been forthright in admitting, as Irene and Gertrude had done, that she was a Negro. Irene’s and Gertrude’s decision, Clare writes, might be the wiser and happier way. Their decisions have caused her some doubt concerning her deception.

After reading Clare’s note, Irene feels no better. She had not slept well the previous night and her emotions are still stirred by Clare’s situation and her husband’s disgusting prejudice. Clare can write about Irene’s so-called wisdom all she wants; that will not erase any of the humiliation Irene suffered for Clare’s benefit. At this thought, Irene proceeds to methodically tear Clare’s letter into small pieces. She then collects the scraps in her hands, walks to the end of the train, and opens her fingers to release the remnants of Clare’s letter. She watches them scatter on the wind and finally land on the tracks and the surrounding grasses. As Irene stares at them, she feels glad that the chances of her ever running into Clare again are so scant. Irene resolves that if that rare occasion should occur, she will avert her eyes from the woman’s face and pretend she does not recognize her. After pondering the whole situation, Irene tells herself that from that moment forward, she will waste no more time thinking about Clare.

In place of thoughts of Clare, Irene reflects on her own affairs. She wonders how her husband, Brian, has fared in her absence. She hopes he has not felt too lonely. With Brian in mind, some worries come back to her. She knows Brian has been feeling restless, craving some new adventure and possibly wanting to move to a new location. As she nears New York, Irene wonders how she might continue to repress his random desires for change.