This chapter opens with a conversation between a young woman named Grant and a man named Andrew curtis. The young woman, who is now twenty-one years old, is well-known for her beauty and handsome appearance. She is also popular because she has a crush on a handsome young man named Reginald Douglas. The two men discuss their mutual admiration for one another, and the young woman reveals that she is attracted to the handsome Douglas because he is a "young and handsome count." The young man, however, is not attracted to her because she is "too young and immature" for his own good. He is attracted by her beauty, but he is not interested in her because he does not want to "make things worse" for her. He does not like the idea of women reading books to "appease men." The two women discuss the possibility of a romance between them, but the young man refuses to be drawn into it, saying that he is "a nonconformist." He tells the women that they should stop wearing dresses that "expose my chest" or "have embroidery," and that he prefers to sleep in the middle of the night. He tells them that he has just woken up from a nap, and he is the type that likes to avoid "lady maries preaching." He says that he likes to go see a play called Macbeth when he returns to London. He then tells the young women that there are "quite a few middle class women" who are independent, but that the "aristocratic young women" display themselves. He adds that he would like to write a book about the life of a "monastery," a small country estate. He asks the young lady if she would like him to marry her, and she says