The Golden Bowl Part 3 Chapter 17

In which the Prince and Charlotte contemplate the peculiar and almost unprecedented freedoms and responsibilities imposed upon them by circumstance, reflecting with a mixture of irony and sincerity on the delicate proprieties of their situation and the subtle understandings that sustain it. A chance meeting in a rain-soaked London house kindles a thoughtful exchange imbued with quiet intensity, as they revisit past connections while navigating the discreet complexities of their present lives.