Still Me

Louisa chats with Ashok as she returns after breakfast, who tells her more about the Gopniks and their life: “The rich do not live like you and me, Miss Louisa. And the New York rich…well, they do not live like anyone” (16). During this conversation, Louisa also encounters Margot De Witt, another resident of the Lavery, who is an old, ill-tempered, flamboyantly dressed woman. Louisa narrowly escapes a bite from Mrs. De Witt’s pug Dean Martin.

Louisa spends the rest of the morning settling in and learning more about the city from Nathan. She video calls Sam in the afternoon. They express how much they miss each other and discuss the house Sam is building. Louisa asks Sam to write letters to her; he self-consciously declines but promises to call often.

Louisa takes a nap and wakes up to the sound of a woman screaming. Louisa rushes out and finds Agnes curled up in her husband’s lap; Mr. Gopnik gently dismisses Louisa for the time-being.

When Louisa re-emerges from her room later, she finds Mr. Gopnik and Tabitha— Mr. Gopnik’s daughter from his first marriage—in the drawing room. Mr. Gopnik explains Louisa’s job to her: as Agnes’s “assistant,” Louisa will accompany her everywhere throughout the day. Agnes eventually arrives. She welcomes Louisa and enquires whether her accommodation is comfortable, and Tabitha makes snide remarks about Agnes’s past when she used to share quarters with other immigrant girls like her.

Tabitha decides to stay for dinner, which prompts Agnes to invite Louisa to join them as well. Although Tabitha is upset at the prospect of dining with staff, Mr. Gopnik allows it. Throughout dinner, Agnes quizzes Louisa about herself while Tabitha continues to be disparaging toward Agnes.

That night Louisa dreams of Will, which is something she has not done since meeting Sam. In the dream, she unsuccessfully tries to cross a busy street to get to Will, who is seated in the back of a black limousine like Mr. Gopnik’s. She awakens just as Will meets her eye.

The chapter opens with an email from Louisa to Sam. She states her intent to email daily and begs him to reply in kind or to send her letters.

Louisa meets Michael, Mr. Gopnik’s assistant, who helps her fill in Agnes’s calendar and explains the different events on it. The Gopniks are “basically top tier. That means they get invited to everything and go to almost none of it” (38). He also warns Louisa to be cautious during events that Mr. Gopnik’s first wife Kathryn will also be attending; there is an upcoming one in two weeks.

Louisa accompanies Agnes throughout the day, over the course of which she is introduced to Garry, the Gopniks’ surly, reticent driver. Back at the apartment, Ilaria starts up the vacuum cleaner during Agnes’s piano lesson, which prompts Agnes to text Louisa and ask her to make it stop. Louisa does so, to Ilaria’s fury; however, this earns Louisa a smile from Agnes.

Over the course of Louisa’s first week, she learns about the team of people who help the apartment run smoothly—from cleaners and grocery shoppers to a piano teacher and a pet behaviorist for the cat. “It was a family home in name only. It felt like a workspace for [Louisa], Nathan, Ilaria, and an endless team of contractors, staff and hangers-on who traipsed through it from dawn until late into the evening” (47). A video call with Sam that week also reveals his work partner, Donna, whom he was very close with, is leaving—Sam feels like he has “just lost [his] two favorite women” (49).

The chapter opens with an email from Louisa to her sister, Katrina “Treena” Clark, filled with news about Louisa’s new life; fond enquiries about their parents as well as Thom, Treena’s son; and a demand to know more about Treena’s recent date.

An upcoming social event has Agnes stressed and on edge, especially since Kathryn will also be in attendance. Mr. Gopnik asks Louisa to attend alongside them, on Agnes’s insistence, and they go shopping for a gown for Louisa. Louisa is appalled at the price of the dress even though the Gopniks are paying for it, which leads Agnes to empathize and reveal that she comes from a modest background too. She asks Louisa to pretend to be Agnes’s friend for the night, and not her assistant.

As they arrive at the New York Palace Hotel for the ball, Louisa is awed by the grandeur and splendor of the venue and its guests. Agnes’s choice of outfit, though stunning, is unconventional and “somehow too much—out of place in the old-world grandeur of the hotel” (60). Mr. Gopnik arrives to greet Agnes, and she relaxes. Louisa notes that “two people could fit all the stereotypes and yet there was something about them that was completely genuine, a delight in each other’s presence” (60).

Mr. Gopnik leaves again to do the rounds, instructing Louisa to take care of Agnes and not let her drink too much. Louisa observes the perfectly dressed and coiffed women in the ballroom and contemplates how they seem to have made full-time jobs of their appearances. They also seem to discreetly but unquestionably snub Agnes and refuse to engage with her. Suddenly, Louisa is greeted by a voice; she turns around to see a man who looks just like Will.

Initially taken aback, Louisa slowly recovers as the man introduces himself as Joshua William Ryan the Third and leaves to fetch her a drink. In the meantime, Agnes has realized the blunder of her choice of dress; however, as she considers changing her outfit, Louisa advises her to “own” the outfit and wear it “with pride.” Josh returns and chats with Louisa and Agnes—he is a Bostonian, recently arrived in New York and working for a securities firm. Upon questioning Louisa about her job, Agnes steps in to claim that Louisa is her friend from school, “[just] visiting from England” (66).

Throughout dinner Agnes is tense and finally asks Louisa to find out where Kathryn is seated. Louisa does so with Josh’s help, who again engages her in conversation about her work. Louisa manages to avoid divulging any details and beats a hasty retreat.

Upon her return to the table, Agnes asks Louisa to accompany her to the bathroom. While Louisa waits for her, two women enter the cloakroom, gossiping about Agnes and Mr. Gopnik. Just then, Agnes calls for Louisa to help her with the stuck zipper of her dress; however, the dress needs to come off for it to be fixed, and the cubicle is too small a space to do so. Agnes initially balks at the idea of having to undress in front of the women in the cloakroom. However, on Louisa’s encouragement, she strides out confidently and nonchalantly strips down and waits while Louisa and the cloakroom attendant fix the zipper. More women walk in and are shocked by the sight, but Agnes is unruffled. She eventually steps back into the fixed dress and tips the cloakroom attendant generously before she walks out, which leads the attendant to comment, “Now that […] is class” (73).

The following day, Agnes has Louisa cancel all her appointments, and the two go for a walk instead. Agnes confides in Louisa about how her new life can be difficult—she does not fit in, Ilaria hates her, and she has lost touch with her old friends: “Once we were all the same […] Now they say I can never know what their problems are. Because I am rich. Somehow I am not allowed to have problems” (75). To cheer her up, Louisa suggests they go eat at a noodle place Agnes used to frequent with her old friends.

At the restaurant, Agnes tells Louisa her and Mr. Gopnik’s story. She used to be his masseuse, but she quit when she began developing feelings for him. When Mr. Gopnik confronted her about quitting, she confessed her feelings for him, and he reciprocated similarly. Having been unhappy in his marriage for a long time, Mr. Gopnik promptly left Kathryn to eventually marry Agnes; Kathryn and Tabitha hate Agnes for this.

Later that evening, Louisa calls Sam and fills him in about the evening. She gushes about how fancy and extravagant the evening was; however, when she mentions Josh to Sam, the conversation turns strained, and Sam soon ends the call. Louisa feels “strangely wrong-footed” as she hangs up; she contemplates the business card Josh gave her when he asked her to give him a call sometime.

The chapter opens with two letters: The first is penned by Camilla Traynor, Will’s mother, explaining that she is sending Louisa letters Will had written to Camilla during his brief time in New York. The second letter is one of Will’s to Camilla that describes the “pretty amazing” city in which he has newly arrived: “It’s impossible not to be infused by the energy of the place” (84).

Reading Will’s letter leaves Louisa feeling an “unexpected kinship with him, a newcomer to the city” (86). The conversation at the noodle bar has also changed Louisa and Agnes’s relationship a little, and it leaves Louisa more confident that she can help bolster Agnes better. The combination of this knowledge, Will’s letter, and the “strange osmotic energy of New York” (86), leaves Louisa wanting to “suck the marrow out of each day, as Will would have done” (86). She begins to carry out her responsibilities with renewed vigor.

Simultaneously, Louisa gradually begins to feel at home in the city. She observes that inhabitants of the Lavery never talk to each other (Mrs. De Witt being the only exception, talking mostly to her dog, or to Ashok); shop assistants fall over themselves to assist people; and New Yorkers walk everywhere. Accordingly, Louisa also begins to walk places, exploring the city on her own. The time difference and exhaustion leave Louisa and Sam unable to communicate much, save the occasional, short email.

On one evening while Agnes is playing the piano, Mrs. De Witt comes knocking at the front door. She is, as usual, dressed flamboyantly, “wearing a 1970s Pucci-style duster coat with green and pink swirls and an emerald green turban” (93), and Louisa is “transfixed.” Mrs. De Witt complains about the noise and insults Agnes’s background as well as Louisa’s sense of style before she leaves.