In this chapter, we are introduced to the protagonist, a young man who is searching for his wife in the streets of Paris. He has a crush on a young woman named Madame Pernelle, and he wants her to marry him. He wants to marry her immediately, but she refuses to do so. He tells her that he has already broken up with her, and that he wants to keep her in touch with him. When she asks him why he did not come to pick her up, he says that he was too rough on the streets that day, and now he has to respond accordingly. He says that his fault is that he refused to come, but that he should have come as well. He blames himself for not coming to pick him up earlier, and says that it is his fault for refusing to take a job for a safer while he is away. He