The Custom of the Country Chapter 21

In which Ralph Marvell, returning to the modest quiet of his old Washington Square room, struggles with the cool formalities of his fractured domestic life and the elusive letters from his absent wife, while seeking solace in the gentle attentions of friends and family. The summer heat and the wearying demands of his work deepen his introspection and loneliness, bringing him to a moment where the past and present mingle with a faint whisper of unrealised hopes.