Vianne reflects on her childhood memories of the Great War: hunger, cold, and the way her father returned damaged and distant, drinking and withdrawing until the family broke apart. She contrasts her own acceptance of that loss with Isabelle’s inability to let go, and tries to reassure herself and Antoine that the Maginot Line will hold and he will be home soon.

On Antoine’s last night at home, their farewell becomes urgent and intimate, and Antoine tells Vianne she is stronger than she believes. The next morning Vianne is restless and frightened, wishing she could keep him in bed or even flee, but she forces cheer for Sophie and goes next door to see her best friend and fellow teacher, Rachel de Champlain, who is holding her newborn son, Ariel.

In Rachel’s backyard, the women quietly acknowledge their shared dread about their husbands going to war. Vianne admits she does not feel strong enough, and Rachel insists they will get through it together, even as Rachel confesses she feels “undone,” too; they agree, half-joking, that they cannot both fall apart at once.

On Tuesday morning, Antoine suggests Vianne take Sophie to Paris to stay with Julien, but Vianne refuses, certain her father will not want his daughters. Antoine reveals he has withdrawn their savings—sixty-five thousand francs hidden in the mattress—because he expects instability, and Vianne realizes how dependent she has been on him to manage their life.

Vianne wakes Sophie, who clings to her old teddy bear and begs that Antoine not go; Antoine promises he will come home. The family travels by train to the muster point near Tours and reaches a camp behind newly erected iron gates, where soldiers on horseback order the men to report with their papers. Antoine kisses Vianne and Sophie goodbye, walks into the crowd, and when the gates clang shut, Vianne and Sophie are left standing alone in the street.