In Oxford the morning after they sleep together, Beth watches Gabriel dress for his lecture and imagines a shared future in which she comes to the university next year and they build a wider, richer life together. Left alone in his room, she drinks tea at his desk, remembers Meadowlands, and briefly lets herself believe she belongs in Gabriel’s world after all.

Beth notices a green notebook and first assumes it is Gabriel’s novel, the work he let Louisa read but not her. When she opens it, she realizes it is his diary and initially recoils from invading his privacy. Curiosity and jealousy overpower her restraint, and she reads entries from the autumn that begin with Gabriel’s longing for her but gradually shift toward his new Oxford life and toward Louisa, identified as “L.”

The decisive entries reveal that Gabriel confided his doubts and guilt to Louisa, that Louisa spent the night with him, and that Louisa is in love with him just days before Beth’s visit. Beth rereads the entries until they feel like proof of betrayal, then interprets Louisa’s behavior at the party in a new light. Feeling humiliated and replaced, Beth finds Louisa’s scented scarf in Gabriel’s room, packs quickly, and leaves a note ending the relationship.

At the bus station, Beth is shaken and struggling to breathe when Gabriel arrives and demands to know what happened. Beth tells Gabriel she knows about Louisa and admits she read his diary; Gabriel reacts with fury at the violation, and Beth retaliates by repeating his mother’s warning that he uses people and moves on. That accusation hardens Gabriel’s anger into cold finality. When the bus arrives, Gabriel tells Beth to go and agrees that it is over, and Beth leaves knowing this is the end of their relationship for a very long time.