Dominique cannot stop thinking about Roark. One night she attends a party and a young poet drives her home. He starts kissing her and she is filled with revulsion; usually when a man advances on her, she feels indifferent. She stays in her house for several days, thinking its walls will keep her safe. Then, she goes to Roark and asks him to help her remove a broken piece of marble from her house (she had scratched it herself). He agrees. When he comes to her house, without a word, he goes to the marble fireplace in her bedroom, strikes it with a chisel and looks at her, saying "Now it's broken and has to be replaced," apparently knowing what she has done. She watches him work; he comments that it's an atrocious fireplace. When he is done removing it, he will order the right kind of marble and install it as soon as it arrives; she waits restlessly for it to arrive, and when it does, she sends for him. He sends another worker instead to do the job. She is angry and upset, knowing she still yearns for him. When she sees Roark, she asks him why he didn't come, and he calls her on it: he says he didn't think it would matter-or did it? She slashes him across the face with a branch she is holding.
Dominique is alone in her bedroom when Roark comes in, holds her down and violently rapes her as an act of scorn. She enjoys it immensely, and knows that if he had shown tenderness, she would have been indifferent. He leaves without a word, and though she thinks everything will be better if she takes a bath, she cannot bring herself to wash the traces of him off her body.
Roark wakes up and thinks of the night before and how it is similar to building. He reads an article about Roger Enright in the paper. He has turned down several top architects. One week later, Roark receives a letter which has taken a long time to reach him (it had been forwarded several times) from Enright asking Roark to meet with him. A half hour later, Roark leaves to go to New York.
Dominique has accepted that what she felt was pleasure, and a certain joy from the violeance of the previous night. She decides she wants to see Roark again, and goes to the quarry, only to find out that he has left. She almost asks the foreman what his name was, then thinks better of it; if she knew, she'd be on her way to New York.
