When the narrator returns to London to find Louise, the narrator is unable to find Louise. Though Gail has romantic feelings towards the narrator, Gail points out that the narrator did Louise a major disservice by deciding Louise’s future without allowing her to contribute to the decision herself.
In an effort to mitigate the effects of this heartbreaking decision, the narrator leaves London and rents a disheveled cottage in the north of England, hoping to find anonymity, relief, and distraction by working in a local wine bar, where she develops a quasi-friendship with the manager, Gail Right. Though the narrator means well, the narrator disregards Louise’s feelings towards the decision and abandons Louise, who must now face the realities of her unhappy marriage and her husband’s infidelity on her own. Without consulting Louise, the narrator ends their relationship by leaving Louise this separation ensures that Louise will return to Elgin and that she will have the opportunity to receive the best treatment he has promised for her illness. This emotional double bind inspires the narrator to make a unilateral decision that the narrator will regret for the rest of the novel. He explains to the narrator that his wife’s chances of survival will be best if she undergoes state-of-the-art treatment at the Swiss medical facility that he directs, which will only be available to her if she stays with him. In an effort to end the affair which will inevitably lead to a divorce that he does not want for professional reasons, Elgin informs the narrator that Louise is suffering from leukemia. Louise desires to leave her husband Elgin, but the narrator suggests that Louise take some time in making this decision, suggesting a confusing reluctance to commit. These problems make her susceptible to the discovery of love and happiness with the narrator, towards whom Louise has been attracted for over two years. Louise has experienced both physical and emotional troubles she has suffered multiple miscarriages and she is unhappy in her marriage. Elgin’s career decision is an important plot device that grows in significance when Louise is discovered to be suffering from leukemia, a cancer of the blood. Louise is married to an eminent cancer research physician, Elgin Rosenthal, who disappointed Louise when he gave up his dreams of aiding people in Third World countries to pursue more lucrative pharmaceutical studies. An anonymous narrator, whose gender the author does not identify, tells the story of a passionate love affair with a beautiful, red-haired woman named Louise Rosenthal.
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