Tender Is the Night: Book 3, Chapter 7 Summary & Analysis

On the way to meet Rosemary at the beach the next day, Nicole worries about Dick. Their relationship has been “unhappy” for a while, largely due to Dick’s drinking problem and his “growing indifference,” from which “Nicole d[oes] not know whether she [i]s to be crushed or spared.” She doesn’t fret, however, about what might happen after Dick has or hasn’t ruined himself, since she has always had money as a security.

Dick and Nicole are both wearing white as they step onto the sand at Gausse’s beach. Dick looks around and Nicole decides that “he was seeking his children, not protectively but for protection.” With a pang of nostalgia, Nicole is sorry that “tasteless” visitors have ruined their beach resort. Nicole spots Rosemary in the water and Dick suggests that they swim out to her.

Nicole stays in the water while Dick sits beside Rosemary on the raft. Nicole is shocked by Rosemary’s youthful beauty but rejoices “that the young girl was less slender” than her. It’s been five years since they met Rosemary on the beach, but Nicole recognizes the same “old game of flattery” between Rosemary and Dick. She leaves them and swims away.

Rosemary’s friends have a boat and aquaplane and Dick is keen to exhibit his physicality—standing on his hands or holding another man above his head. Nicole knows that Dick is “somewhat tired,” but proximity to “Rosemary’s exciting youth” has inspired him to show off. Nicole watches with “smiling scorn” as he attempts his lifting trick on the aquaplane board. Just one year ago he had done it “with ease,” but now, Dick is not strong enough and he topples dramatically into the water, nearly hitting his head on the board. Nicole sees “Dick floating exhausted and expressionless, alone with the water and the sky.”

Back on the beach, Dick fetches some sherry for them. Rosemary expresses how glad she is to see that the rumors about Dick’s “deterioration” aren’t true, but Dick corrects her saying, “It is true […] The change came a long way back.” Rosemary is shocked to see Mary avoiding the Divers. Upon noticing Rosemary, however, Mary comes over to their group to greet her and Nicole. Rosemary declines a dinner invitation but is surprised to witness Dick mocking Mary, asking sarcastically after her children “and their aunts.” Refusing to engage with “Dick’s bitterness,” Mary leaves them. Rosemary is reminded of some gossip she had overheard about Dick: “He’s not received anywhere anymore.”

Nicole grows impatient as Dick turns on his charm and prattles away to Rosemary about her latest movies. When Rosemary suggests that Topsy would “make a fine actress,” Nicole snaps, admonishing Rosemary for putting such ideas in her daughter’s head. Nicole announces her exit. Feeling happy, independent, and free from Dick, she drives home alone and writes Tommy “a short provocative letter.”

Come evening, however, Nicole’s good mood is dampened by “nervous energy.” She fears Dick’s plans and resolves to take control of her own path—she mustn’t rely on him to think for her any longer. Later that evening Nicole sings along as Dick plays the piano. When he realizes that the music he’s playing is about a father, he automatically goes to change the song, but Nicole exclaims, “Am I going through the rest of my life flinching at the word ‘father’?” She and Dick are “lonely and empty-hearted toward each other.”

In the morning Nicole finds a note from Dick saying he’s going away for a few days. Just then, the phone rings. It’s Tommy, and Nicole “fe[els] her lips’ warmth in the receiver as she welcome[s] his coming.”