It's not unusual for a father to neglect his family, so it's no surprise that the narrator is worried about his relationship with Nelly. He's worried that she's ruining his life, and he's thinking about going to Italy to study under the great conductor Antonio Vivaldi. He tells Nelly that he loves her too, and that he needs to find someone to love him back in his home country. Nelly is all, "I love you too, but I don't want to be with you anymore" . The two of them argue about whether or not they're serious about each other, and the narrator points out that they've run away from each other so many times that they can't even talk to each other anymore. The narrator says that he'd be happy to be a teacher, but he'll have to adjust to the fact that people will treat him badly if he doesn't change his attitude. Nelly says that she and her father are going to church the next day, so they'll be back at square one soon. She's even more upset when the narrator mentions that he has all his sheet music, which broke the bank when he played it for his exam. Nelly asks who his partners are, and she learns that the conductor for the Orchestre des Champs-de-Liss is Jean, who's just been hired to be the new conductor. She also learns that his mentor, Stresemann, was the music director of the roux- marlet orchestra, which is a part-time orchestra.