The End of the Affair: Book 1, Chapter 6 Summary & Analysis

Bendrix details his writing schedule, one he’s closely followed for years and which has allowed him to finish one novel per year, writing at least 500 words a day for five days of the week. Bendrix says he never broke this schedule for any love affair until he met Sarah and, instead of devoting his mornings to writing, Bendrix began spending mornings and any other free time Sarah had with her. Even still, Bendrix had found ways to meet his daily quota while they were happy. Bendrix writes that it was only after he realized that their “love was doomed” that his schedule fell apart. He says that as long as he could “make-believe that love lasted” he could be happy, but that “if love had to die, [he] wanted it to die quickly,” and so he would start fights with Sarah on purpose.

Bendrix stands alone in his apartment in the dark, looking at the opposite building across the Common. Bendrix’s landlady knocks at his door and tells him that a man named Mr. Parkis is there to see him. When Mr. Parkis comes in, Bendrix notes that he looks familiar, but can’t remember why. Mr. Parkis introduces himself to Bendrix as “Mr. Savage’s man” and hands Bendrix the first report and expenses sheet (which his son has helped complete). As Bendrix goes over the expense sheet, he realizes that he recognizes Mr. Parkis as the man who was watching him and Sarah at the café. 

Bendrix reads the report Mr. Parkis and his son wrote up, which includes an account of Sarah meeting a man at a café and then going to Rules for lunch with him. Mr. Parkis noticed that, when they parted outside the restaurant, they appeared to be “labouring under great emotion” and Mr. Parkis theorized that they were “parting for good.” Mr. Parkis, according to the report, then followed Sarah, who walked around until entering a Catholic church and sitting alone in a pew for a few minutes. Bendrix is surprised by this because Sarah is not generally religious.

Bendrix, who had been sitting in the dark so far, leans into the light to tell Mr. Parkis that he was wrong about Sarah and the mysterious man at the café holding hands, which he knows because he was the man. Mr. Parkis is embarrassed and worried about what to tell his son, who admires his profession. Bendrix tries to reassure Mr. Parkis, but Mr. Parkis insists that he must come clean to his son and tell him about the mistake. When Mr. Parkis leaves, Bendrix realizes with surprise that he hasn’t thought at all about Sarah or being jealous, and, in fact, “had become nearly human enough to think of another person’s trouble.”