Chapter 3 Summary

Wyatt marries a sensual woman named Esther and they share a house in Greenwich Village. Wyatt is frequently lost in his books and study, which irritates his wife, when he is not working as an art restorer. They have uninspired sex and when Esther awakens the next morning, she realizes she has been alone most of the night. Wyatt has spent another night working on a canvas and she tries to goad him into producing "something original." They receive a letter from a warehouse in New Jersey where Wyatt stores his paintings, informing them that all his works have been destroyed in a fire and offering him a check for $130. Wyatt is pleased but Esther outraged that he is so poorly compensated. Still trying to get a rise out of Wyatt, Esther asks him whether he knows that a young poet he traveled...