After eleven years of not seeing each other, Jess Downs flies to New York to visit Bertie Quade. They have corresponded by mail, but are now nervous to meet in person. They embrace and Jess tells Bertie Papa sends his best love. They eat at a sandwich shop and look at each other, secretly shocked by how different the other looks. Jess tells her that last week her older father refused to talk and they thought he was paralyzed but he was just being difficult and sure enough twenty minutes after the doctor leaves he asks for his shaving kit. Jess says she’s only staying until tomorrow when she can return to her father and Bertie is upset and wishes she can stay longer. 

Jess tries to take in the sights of the city but she can’t get her father out of her mind. They arrive at the theater and wait for the Ibsen show to begin. They watch the great Nazimova perform, as they had in high school, and Jess grows uneasy. She pushes thoughts of her father away and thinks about herself and how she’s been cheated of life. Jess cries while watching the play and claps frantically at intermission. Jess asks Bertie if she thinks it’s off they both never married but Bertie says she’s happy. They watch the even-sadder closing scene and walk on Broadway until they reach the door of a Childs for a nightcap. Jess is shocked when Bertie orders a drink but gives in and resistantly orders a small glass of sherry too. Bertie then convinces her to smoke a cigarette and they cheers to their friendship. Jess gets tipsy and tells Bertie how she flirted with Judge Wynant’s brother recently and Bertie reassures her it’s nothing to be ashamed of. They talk about old boyfriends they had and Jess feels like their visit has truly begun. 

They take the subway back to Bertie’s apartment and feel like their younger selves as they people watch. At the apartment, they lie in bed next to each other and Jess tells her her teacher friends thought she was visiting a man named Bertie in New York to elope. Bertie tells Jess that her father ruined her life and Jess is defensive until she breaks down and admits sometimes she wishes her father were dead so she could be free.