Part 3, Chapters 21-22 Summary

Richard Gordon and his wife fight when he comes home from the Bardleys' with lipstick on his shirt and face. He finds her being kissed by a drunken slob. She declares the marriage is over, as it should have been long ago. The Bradley woman is the last straw. She lets John MacWalsey kiss her because she is mad at Richard, and MacWalsey has asked her to marry him. He loves her and is rich. She and Richard are not married in the church—which breaks her mother's heart. He makes her get abortions and now she is afraid to say her prayers, figuring she has no right any more.

They exchange nasty names and she continues. MacWalsey is a real man: kind, charitable, and has her father's virtues. She admits that her father drinks, but says he...