Ivan waits for Peter at a dimly lit restaurant on Thursday evening, reflecting on how Peter has been right about certain things over the years—particularly regarding women. Ivan's evolving attitude toward women, catalyzed by his relationship with Margaret, has led him to understand Peter's long-held feminist sympathies with new personal sympathy. He also reflects on his financial struggles: an unpaid invoice from a tech start-up, rent due in ten days, and the soul-crushing prospect of graduate job listings. His mother guilt-trips him about not visiting his dog Alexei in Skerries. Through all this anxiety, thoughts of Margaret and their approaching weekend together provide him a sense of hope.

Peter arrives seven minutes late, polished and at ease. The brothers settle into a surprisingly warm and civil dinner. Peter asks about Ivan's weekend trips to Leitrim, and Ivan cautiously reveals he is seeing someone. Peter is tactful and courteous, and Ivan feels the exchange goes well. Over French onion soup and salmon, they discuss Peter's legal career and his ideals about equity, share a moment of genuine humor about both being cowards, and bond over their shared experience of hating to lose—in chess and in court. Ivan privately reflects on how both brothers experienced a period of triumphant youth followed by disillusionment, and how Peter's personality changed after his breakup with Sylvia.

When Peter notices Ivan might be struggling financially, he offers to lend him rent money in an offhanded, generous manner. Ivan is deeply touched, recognizing Peter's effort to be a good brother. This reminds Ivan of how Peter, Sylvia, and Ivan each played different roles during their father's illness—Peter handling logistics and insurance, Sylvia and Ivan sitting patiently at the bedside. Ivan senses a fundamental sadness and deficiency in Peter's personality that Sylvia has always helped compensate for.

The conversation turns more intimate. Peter admits he still loves Sylvia very much but acknowledges their situation is complicated, with both of them having other things going on. Feeling a sense of equality with Peter for the first time, Ivan reciprocates by mentioning that the woman he's seeing has an ex-husband, which makes things complicated too. Peter's demeanor shifts abruptly. He asks Margaret's age—thirty-six—and whether she has children. Then Peter questions whether a "normal woman" her age would want to be with someone in Ivan's situation, implying something is wrong with Margaret.

Ivan erupts in fury, telling Peter he hates him and has hated him his entire life. Peter, unmoving, simply replies: "I know." Ivan storms out of the restaurant and walks through the rainy Dublin streets. His rage gradually gives way to a far more painful realization: he has carelessly revealed Margaret's age and marital status exactly as she feared he might, bringing about the judgment she dreaded from his family. Ivan recognizes he cannot easily undo Peter's negative impression, and that he himself knows very little about Margaret's marriage. Though he resolves never to speak to Peter again, this offers little comfort against the crushing weight of his own remorse and betrayal of Margaret's trust. He walks on in the rain, hating his brother, hating himself, and feeling extremely sorry.