Declining Pascal's invitation to stay for the communal dinner at Le Moulin, the narrator (posing as Sadie) insists she can walk back alone to Lucien's family estate, refusing his offer to have Florence accompany her. She wants time alone to drink beer and continue her research and planning.

Walking in extreme heat—around 105 degrees Fahrenheit—Sadie keeps to the middle of the road to avoid snakes that drop from overhanging branches, where they hang to stay cool. She observes one such snake fall and slither into a ditch.

Nadia Derain pulls up beside her in a dusty Renault. Hostile at first, Nadia bluntly asks if Sadie is sleeping with Pascal, accusing him of an insatiable appetite for young women and hypocrisy that contradicts the commune's professed ethics. Sadie deflects by claiming she is married to Pascal's childhood friend and offers Nadia sympathy, validating her grievances—including Pascal's condescending line about the "affective layer" of Parisians versus Brittany women.

Disarmed by Sadie's agreement, Nadia offers to share unflattering truths about Le Moulin. Sadie, sensing an opportunity to gather intelligence, accepts a ride. Nadia clears the cluttered passenger seat, and Sadie climbs in, having opened a new channel into the commune's internal tensions.