Alvah Scarret, editor-in-chief of the Wynand papers, runs an exposé on the slums which causes the landlord sharks to sell, finally, to a real-estate company which no one can prove belongs to Wynand. As part of the exposé, he assigns Dominique Francon to live in the slums for two weeks and investigate the living conditions, which she does expertly. Once she is back in her apartment, Scarret visits her and offers her a job as head of a new Women's Welfare Dept., which she declines. They talk about what she wants; Dominique refuses to care about anything in particular - a job, or a person, because then she'd have to be afraid of everyone. She reasons that everyone and everything is somehow connected, and therefore anything she cares about is at risk of being lost. So, she resolves to care for nothing. She talks about a statue she had once which she threw down an elevator shaft and broke on purpose, because she didn't want anyone else to see it.
Guy Francon sometimes thinks he hates his daughter. But when he does, an image of her as a child jumping over a hedge that he thought would be too high for her, sticks in his mind. He thinks for some reason that she needs to be protected. From what, he doesn't know. He thinks Keating might be just the man to protect her. He invites the two of them to lunch, and departs after half an hour, leaving the two alone. Keating knows that he "disliked her violently" but somehow is still captivated; she invites him to take her to the theater that evening, and he accepts. He tells Francon about this and Francon hints that he wishes she would get married (although says that it's not an invitation). He then mentions that Heyer probably won't be able to work soon, implying that Keating could have his position as partner.
Keating sits at home with his mother while she asks him questions about Dominique. Katie comes to the door in a panic; she has been working at home with her uncle and suddenly felt this great rush of fear, and left. She asks Peter to marry her right away. He tells her they can get the marriage license tomorrow. After Katie leaves, Mrs. Keating cautions Peter about marrying her; if he does, then he will not be in favor with Francon, and could lose a potential partnership. She is in favor of him marrying Dominique. The next morning, Peter goes to see Katie and asks her to postpone the wedding for a few weeks. She says she had been thinking the same thing, especially because her uncle had laughed when she told him she was getting married. Peter leaves, and Katie realizes that she was hoping he would try to convince her to marry right away.
