Part 1, Chapter 2 Summary

Harriet Scrope is trying to write her memoirs but cannot put them together on her own. Harriet asks her new assistant, Mary Wilson, to fill in the spots between her memories and proper narration, but Mary refuses, telling Harriet that it would be lying. Harriet sends Mary away and spends a few minutes talking to her cat, Mr. Gaskell, and drinking gin from a teaspoon. Finally Harriet decides she will go visit a friend of hers, Sarah Tilt.

On the walk to Sarah's house, Harriet runs into a blind man and makes up a story about who she is. Harriet likes to tell stories, it seems, and enjoys tricking people into believing them. At Sarah's, they discuss Harriet's own writing, her advanced age, and Sarah's writing. Sarah is writing a book about death in art. Sarah is very afraid of death...