Bel spends the day of her 18th birthday preparing for the lavish party that her father is throwing that night at the Copacabana Palace Hotel. Her parents gift her an emerald necklace and earrings to match. At first, Bel is delighted by the gift. When her father makes a comment about how it will be the most expensive jewelry at the party, some of her enjoyment dissolves.

The party is extravagant, with champagne, caviar, and lobster. Bel dances with a series of partners selected for her by her father. He introduces her to Gustavo Aires Cabral, a short and pale-faced young man who is 10 years her senior and the son of an aristocratic family. The night concludes with a fireworks show in Bel’s honor. The morning after the party, Bel’s father is delighted by all the invitations and notes that Bel has already received in the wake of her party. He is especially pleased to see that Gustavo has sent a note. In the weeks following, Bel’s social calendar is full. She wears ornate, custom gowns as she attends the opera, parties, and dances.

One evening, when Bel is at the opera with her friend Maria Elisa and her family, Gustavo seeks Bel out to introduce her to his parents. Gustavo’s mother is haughty. She compliments Bel on her beauty but then insults her family by calling her father “new money.” Gustavo’s father is more tactful and expresses interest in meeting Bel’s parents.

Bel and her parents are invited to lunch at the Aires Cabral mansion (the Casa das OrquÍdeas that Maia will visit on her trip to Rio in 2007). The family has lived in the house for 200 years. The home is large and beautiful, but it is shabby. The Aires Cabrals’ fortune, like that of many old aristocratic families, is dwindling as their traditional ways of making money (gold mines or plantations run on the labor of enslaved individuals) become outdated and obsolete. The lunch conversation is tense; Bel feels that Gustavo’s parents are interviewing hers rather than conversing with them. Over the course of lunch, however, Bel grows to like Gustavo a little more as he talks about his love for art and literature. Bel herself is passionate about art. Both Bel and her mother notice how infatuated Gustavo seems to be with her. Bel tries to deny the knowledge: She longs to see Europe and also longs for an escape from or at least a delay of a relationship with Gustavo, which she predicts will result in a marriage proposal before too long.

Bel and Maria Elisa continue to spend a lot of time together. Practical Maria Elisa thinks that Bel may be overreacting in her aversion to marrying Gustavo. Where passionate and free-thinking Bel sees confinement and limitations in a marriage without love, Maria Elisa reminds Bel how stable and peaceful her life might be if she had an aristocratic husband and a historic mansion in addition to her beauty and wealth. Bel wishes that she were as calm and sensible as her friend and is grateful to have a companion to give her advice.

Heitor da Silva Costa, Maria Elisa’s father, speaks with Bel’s father about Bel traveling with their family to Europe. Bel’s father refuses. Distraught at this refusal, Bel retreats into the quiet of the jungle beyond their backyard. From her vantage point, she can see out over the city. She hears drum music from the city’s slums and scolds herself for behaving like a spoiled rich girl. Bel tries to school herself to be more tranquil and accepting like Maria Elisa.

Two weeks later, Bel’s family hosts Gustavo and his parents for dinner. Bel’s father designs the entire menu to show off his wealth. When the dinner conversation turns to the construction of the Cristo statue, Bel expresses her interest in seeing the build site atop Corcovado Mountain. Gustavo suggests that he take her to see it. Bel’s father guesses that Gustavo will propose on that outing.

Later that night, Bel’s mother asks her if she wants to marry Gustavo. Bel is torn between her recent decision to be more accepting and her desire to tell her mother the truth. She compromises, telling her mother that while she does not love Gustavo, she would be happy to marry him because it would please her parents. Her mother assures Bel that she only wants to see Bel happy. Her mother also tells Bel that love can grow between a couple over time.

On the day of their date to Corcovado Mountain, Gustavo is fidgety. Bel realizes that he is nervous. The train climbs a very steep incline up the mountain, and Bel grabs on to Gustavo for support. It is the most physical contact they have had, and Bel notes that while it doesn’t make her feel excited, it also does not repulse her. The pair climbs the many steep stairs to the construction site. Gustavo leads Bel to the shade, where they can look out over the city. He points out a beautiful building with a red roof, telling a story about a man who built the house for his beloved, an Italian opera singer, so that she would not feel homesick.

When Bel comments on the romance, Gustavo sees his opening, telling Bel that he would make such a gesture for her if he could. Gustavo then proposes to Bel. She tries to interrupt, but he asks her to let him speak before he loses his nerve. He professes his love for her, telling her that although the marriage is convenient for both of their families, that is not his only motivation. He knows that she doesn’t love him yet but feels confident that she will grow to love him. Finally, he tells Bel that if she agrees to marry him, he will agree to her going to Europe for a few months during their engagement because he knows how much the trip means to her. Bel accepts his proposal, seeing it as her only opportunity to take the trip she’s been dreaming of. They return home to tell Bel’s family. Her father is delighted with the engagement.

Bel’s maid, Loen, returns from working at the family’s country house. She fell in love with a young man while she was away. She mourns that her friend is not in love with her fiancé the way Loen is with her new beau. However, Bel has warmed up to Gustavo somewhat; he is attentive and kind, and his affection is obvious. The day before Bel and the de Silva Costas leave for Europe, Gustavo gives her a moonstone necklace, which she loves (this is the same necklace that will be handed down through generations of Aires Cabrals until Pa Salt gifts it to Maia). Gustavo kisses Bel on the lips for the first time. Just as with their touch on the train, Bel finds that the kiss isn’t unpleasant, but it doesn’t excite her either.

Bel promises to write Loen while she is away in Europe. On the transatlantic journey, Bel develops a close bond with Maria Elisa’s family. She admires Maria Elisa’s father, who is welcoming and enthusiastic while talking to Bel about the Cristo project.

The trip from Rio de Janeiro to France takes six weeks. Bel and the de Silva Costa family settle into an apartment in Paris. Bel looks forward to sightseeing in Paris before traveling with the de Silva Costas to Italy. She is especially interested to see Paris’s Left Bank, favored by artists like F. Scott Fitzgerald and Picasso. From the apartment window, she admires the modern fashions worn by women in Paris, which are very different from the gowns and corsets worn in Rio.

The next morning, Bel is disappointed to find that both Maria Elisa and her mother have colds and do not feel well enough to sightsee. Bel eats breakfast with Heitor de Silva Costa while his wife and daughter are in bed. She asks him about the artistic neighborhood of Montparnasse on the Left Bank. Heitor understands Bel’s curiosity about the bohemian culture there but warns her that Montparnasse has a reputation for being risqué.

Bel is not permitted to leave the Paris apartment without supervision. Since Heitor is busy meeting potential sculptors and Maria Elisa and her mother are sick, Bel is trapped inside. After a week of growing restlessness, Heitor invites her to accompany him to visit the sculptor Paul Landowski. Paul, a renowned art deco sculptor and a professor of art, is Heitor’s favorite candidate for sculpting the head, hands, and feet of the Cristo.

Paul is an energetic older man, with wild gray hair. When he shakes Bel’s hand, he admires her elegant fingers. While Heitor and Paul enthusiastically discuss the details of the project, Bel meets Paul’s assistant, Laurent Brouilly. She admires his good looks and the immense concentration with which he approaches his work. He is so focused on his sculpting that he ignores her presence for some time. Eventually, he pauses his work and invites Bel to share a simple lunch of wine and bread.

While she and Laurent eat, Bel considers the strangeness and potential impropriety of the situation. She has never been alone with a man before (other than a few brief moments with Gustavo), and in Rio society, it would be deemed very inappropriate. Laurent complements Bel’s beauty. His flirtatious and frank manner simultaneously disarms and charms Bel. He challenges her naive, conservative worldview right from the start. Prompted by his astute observations, Bel admits to Laurent that she is engaged to a man whom she doesn’t love. Laurent wants to sculpt Bel and asks permission first from her and then from Heitor. Heitor isn’t sure that it would be proper, so he agrees to think it over and get back to Laurent after the de Silva Costas return from their visits to Italy and Germany.

Despite how much she had longed to see Florence and Rome, Bel wants to return to Paris the whole time she is traveling in Italy with the de Silva Costas. She can’t stop thinking about Laurent and fervently hopes that Heitor will grant permission for the sculpture. Maria Elisa notices her friend’s mood, but Bel does not confide fully in her.

Bel writes to her parents upon returning to Paris. She describes sightseeing in Paris now that Maria Elisa and her mother are recovered from their illness. She is enthusiastic about shopping and seeing the great works of art in the Louvre. In her letter, Bel mentions meeting a young Brazilian woman named Margarida Lopes de Almeida, who is studying art in Paris on a scholarship from the Brazilian government. Margarida is taking classes at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, and Bel expresses interest in taking a sculpture class. Bel also writes to Loen regularly and, far less frequently, to Gustavo.

Bel and Margarida quickly develop a friendship. Bel receives permission to attend classes with Margarida while Maria Elisa meets with her French tutor. Meanwhile, Heitor makes his final decision on a sculptor for Christ the Redeemer and hires Paul Landowski.

The following Monday, Bel joins Margarida for class for the first time. Bel is under strict instruction from the de Silva Costas to be home promptly at four o’clock in the afternoon. It is immediately clear that Margarida has misled her mother (and the de Silva Costas) about the culture at the Beax-Arts school. Bel is over-dressed for class the first day, standing out in her rich clothing among the many “starving artists.” Most of the students are men. Bel is surprised to see some of the female students wearing pants. Margarida also reveals that her classes are only in the morning. Each day after class, she secretly goes to the liberal Montparnasse neighborhood to have lunch and spend time with friends. Bel joins this routine, which the women repeat daily.

One day, Margarida and Bel attend a sculpture class before walking through the streets of Montparnasse to find a cafe full of artists and bon vivants. They run into Laurent Brouilly there. Margarida is asked to play a few songs on the piano at the cafe; she is a talented musician. Bel enjoys sitting close to Laurent and sipping drinks while listening to Margarida play. At lunch, Bel learns that Margarida will soon be starting an internship in Paul’s studio.

Chapter 21 opens with another letter from Bel to her parents. It is short and simple, expressing her pleasure in studying art and appreciating summer in Paris. Bel wishes that she could honestly tell her parents that much of her joy is from the new freedom she is experiencing. She is grateful to be able to confide fully in Loen, describing her experiences in Montparnasse and her growing infatuation with Laurent.

Paul, who is a professor at the art school, invites Izabela to come to his studio when Margarida is there for her internship so that Laurent can sculpt her. Bel has a few days of downtime between classes ending and Margarida’s internship starting. She grows restless as she is once again bound to the apartment. One afternoon, she requests that she be allowed to visit the shops to buy a birthday present for her mother. Heitor accompanies her to a shop near his office, where she buys her mother a beautiful scarf.

One evening, Maria Elisa confides in Bel that she wants to train to become a nurse. Bel encourages her friend, thinking that Maria Elisa’s calm and naturally sweet temperament will make her a great nurse.

Bel joins Margarida and Laurent at Paul’s studio. Laurent asks her to make coffee, knowing that Brazil is famous for delicious coffee. Bel is embarrassed when he realizes that she doesn’t know how to prepare a cup of coffee; she has always had servants making her coffee at home.

Laurent begins by sketching Bel. He asks her to talk about herself and her home while he is sketching so that she feels more relaxed and so that her natural demeanor and expressions will be more visible. Laurent listens with attention and asks insightful questions about Bel, her family, her relationship with Gustavo, and her desire for independence.

Laurent’s sculpture of Bel takes shape as Bel sits for him each day. At the end of a few weeks, Paul announces that he needs Laurent to focus on helping him with the Cristo project. Then, he asks Laurent to make a cast of Bel’s hands as potential templates for Christ the Redeemer’s hands. He also casts a model of Margarida’s hands. When Laurent is removing the cast from Margarida’s hands, one of the pinky fingers breaks off. Laurent repairs the damage, but a small crack remains.

Margarida cautions Bel about Laurent; she has noticed how the two look at each other and is worried because Laurent is so much more worldly and experienced than Bel and might seduce her. Margarida admits that something similar happened to her when she was studying art in Italy—she fell in love with and had an affair with a man, but then he stopped communicating with her. Despite Margarida’s concerns, Bel can’t help but feel excited that her friend thinks that Laurent likes her.

Laurent arranges to have Bel come to the studio in the evenings so that he can work on the Cristo sculpture during the day and his sculpture of Bel during the evening. This means that the two have more privacy while Laurent is sculpting Bel because Margarida isn’t in the studio in the evenings. Meanwhile, Maria Elisa begins volunteering at a local hospital in Paris.

One evening, Bel inspects Laurent’s sculpture, which she thinks makes her look very young and innocent. Bel feels a little insulted when Laurent tells her that he was trying to capture the moment between girlhood and womanhood; she argues that she is not a child. “Neither are you a woman yet” (210), he tells her.

The sexual and romantic tension builds between Bel and Laurent over the coming days, though neither of them says or does anything. Then, one night as she is leaving, Bel finds a young boy, unhoused and injured, sleeping under a bush outside Paul’s studio. Bel is distraught about the boy’s condition and full of empathy. She finds Laurent. The two of them carry him inside and settle him on a mat. Laurent falls more in love with Bel after seeing her compassion. He kisses her for the first time.

The evening after Bel and Laurent help the boy, Bel arrives at the studio to hear that the Landowski family has stepped in to help the child, providing him with clothing, food, and a place to stay in their home. The boy has not said a word to anyone, except for one sentence that he said to Bel the evening before, telling her that he would always remember her kindness.

Bel and Laurent continue their affair, but they limit their physical affection to kissing. It is Bel’s last week in Paris. Laurent completes the sculpture of Bel in time for her last night at the studio. Laurent asks Bel to consider staying in Paris with him. She contemplates it, tempted by the idea of living with the man she loves even if it would be an impoverished existence. However, she resolves to go home, unwilling to disappoint her parents and abandon her family. Laurent warns her that Gustavo may grow to resent her because she agreed to marry him even though she doesn’t love him. Heartbroken, Bel asks for a little time to think before she makes her final decision. She and Laurent make plans to meet for one last time in a park near the de Silva Costa apartment. When they do, Bel says her final goodbye to Laurent, firm in her decision that she cannot betray her family by staying.

The de Silva Costa family bids a fond farewell to Bel. Maria Elisa notices her downcast mood and encourages her friend to embrace her future with Gustavo. As Bel’s ship sets out, she is heartbroken to leave Laurent and the sense of freedom that she felt in Paris.