Eleanor Roosevelt spots her mother-in-law circulating among society leaders at the New York luncheon and braces for criticism of her independent projects. The older woman joins Eleanor and Mary McLeod Bethune, politely praising education while signaling disapproval of Eleanor’s endeavors like the Todhunter School, Val-Kill Industries, and political organizing.

A flashback to 1918 surfaces: Eleanor’s mother-in-law discovers Franklin Roosevelt’s letters revealing an affair with Lucy Mercer, curses the betrayal, and offers to support Eleanor through divorce. She then proposes an alternative—remaining married in name only while Eleanor builds an independent life. Eleanor agrees; years later, she and Franklin sleep separately and present unity mainly for family and shared beliefs.

Back in 1927, Mrs. Moreau tries to pull the mother-in-law away, implicitly pressing for Bethune’s exclusion. Eleanor and Bethune wryly note the gap between theoretical support for women and practical constraints. Eleanor recalls the controlling adjacent townhouses and affirms she prefers her service work to returning to her husband’s political circuit, especially after Franklin’s polio.

Shifting to Bethune’s school, Eleanor asks about its origins. Bethune explains buying a former garbage dump with money from selling sweet potato pies, securing funds from James Gamble to pay off the land and erect a brick building, and later winning support from Thomas H. White after he saw students struggling with a broken Singer sewing machine.

Eleanor contrasts Bethune’s tenacity with her own easier purchase of Todhunter. When Eleanor suggests they differ, Bethune jokes the true difference is party—Republican versus Democrat—before turning serious to credit Eleanor’s “courage in droves” for inviting her to the luncheon, underscoring their growing alliance.