The third part continues as Arthur reflects on the Feinsteins, specifically the day, many years ago, when they returned from a trip abroad and seemed changed. Mrs. Feinstein seemed sad, and Dulcie would no longer walk with Arthur. To fill their absence, Arthur began visiting Mr. Saporta—Dulcie’s future husband. Mr. Saporta was Jewish, and Arthur noticed that his Star of David was yet another mandala, which he had begun to see everywhere. 

After Mr. Feinstein died, Arthur visited Dulcie. She invited him to her wedding and explained that Waldo was not important to her. To honor the changes in her life—her father’s death, her impending marriage—Arthur gave her one of his mandalas, the solid blue one for her beauty. At that very moment, Waldo arrived. 

Life went on, and Arthur began to visit Mrs. Poulter when her husband was not around. They would talk harmlessly about a variety of subjects, take walks together, and pick blackberries. Once, while resting among the blackberries with Mrs. Poulter, Arthur performed for her a mandala dance: 

He danced the passion of all their lives, the blood running out of the backs of his hands, water out of the hole in his ribs. His mouth was a silent hole, because no sound was needed to explain.

Afterward, Arthur gave Mrs. Poulter one of his solid mandalas. Shortly after, their friendship began to garner public disapproval, and it slowly dissolved. The loss of Mrs. Poulter’s friendship reminds Arthur of his father’s death, a memory he then narrates from his perspective. 

Finding his father’s body was difficult for Arthur, yet he spent all his time striving to comfort his mother and brother, catering to their every need while ignoring his own. To bring his brother comfort, Arthur tried to give Waldo a mandala, but he pridefully refused to accept it. 

In the years following, Arthur continued to visit Dulcie and her new husband. Though he still loved her, he also felt strongly connected to her husband; his feelings were not one-sided, as the couple soon revealed their desire to name their first child after him. 

Arthur recalls how he would often visit the library without Waldo noticing him. The first time Waldo noticed Arthur, he became incredibly angry and made a scene, but Arthur could not bring himself to be mad, as he knows that Waldo is a “lost soul.”

Thinking about his life, from his retirement to the present day, Arthur realizes that the dogs and their walks are the only things that bring him joy, outside of the poetry he writes but feels guilty about. The third part draws to a close in the present, on the day Waldo discovers one of Arthur’s poems and decides that his own writing is unworthy of anything but the fire. Arthur discovers Waldo lying dead in their bed, his face full of hatred and bitterness.