At Elizabeth’s flat, Bogdan replaces a kitchen light fitting while Elizabeth asks whether he and Donna might marry. Bogdan says Donna would decide such things, and Elizabeth lightly teases him before the conversation shifts to Elizabeth’s mood. Bogdan notices that Elizabeth seems happier, and Elizabeth says grief is far deeper and stranger than anything words can properly explain.

Elizabeth focuses on Stephen’s empty chair and asks where Stephen himself has gone, making clear that knowing where his ashes are does not answer the real loss. She reflects that the world contains immeasurable love and sadness, all of it somehow concentrated for her in that chair. The chair triggers a memory of buying it with Stephen, driving home with it strapped to the car roof, and later having its legs cut so it would fit upstairs.

Bogdan responds practically, even criticizing the workmanship on the shortened chair legs, but he also understands Elizabeth’s emotional point. Elizabeth says no one can truly know another person’s grief, and Bogdan admits that words are difficult for him, though he has brought small practical help in the form of batteries for her remote. When Elizabeth says he could sit in Stephen’s chair if he wanted, Bogdan refuses because, to him, Stephen is still there.

The chapter ends with a small but important shift back toward the wider plot. Bogdan’s phone buzzes, and after Elizabeth presses him, he admits the message is from Ron. Ron wants to see Bogdan and has specifically said, “No Elizabeth,” revealing that Ron is making a private move and that Bogdan has become involved in something Elizabeth has not yet been told about.