The scene opens with a flashback to the events of the previous chapter, in which Oliver's mother, Nelly, tells her son that she has just received a message from Nelly's sister, Mamie, saying that Mamie is in love with Oliver and wishes that Oliver would marry her. The flashback then shifts to a conversation between Nelly and Mamie in which they discuss the nature of the relationship between Oliver and Nelly. Nelly tells Mamie that Oliver has been sleeping with Mamie for the past two months, and that she will be waiting for him at a hotel in the city tomorrow.