Roman waits for Iris at Gould’s Café after slipping out of the Kitt Estate through a break in the fence and using a public phone to summon her. He is tense because he suspects Val is following him, so he prepares himself to behave as if Iris is only a former colleague rather than his wife. When Iris arrives, both feel the force of their reunion, but Roman keeps his manner cool and formal to avoid exposing them.

At the table, Roman and Iris fall into the familiar rhythm of their old Gazette banter, using talk of tea, milk, honey, and office habits to steady themselves. Beneath the surface, Roman quietly signals that he still remembers everything and that his distance is deliberate, not a sign of lost memory. After Iris eats, Roman says he was sent to meet her and slips her two letters together: one from Dacre on top, and a concealed private note from himself underneath.

Roman refuses to say more in public and ends the meeting abruptly, leaving Iris hurt and confused as he walks away. Once alone in the café lavatory, Iris opens Dacre’s letter first. In it, Dacre flatters her writing, claims he was moved by her recent article, and invites her to join his cause as a writer who could help shape the world he wants to rebuild.

Iris then reads Roman’s hidden note. Roman explains that he can only answer her questions in person, in safety, and asks her to meet him that night by the weak point in his family’s fence so he can sneak her into the house before he must return to his post. Moved by his love and by his promise of a shared future after the war, Iris resolves not to let fear or Dacre’s manipulations govern her choices.