Margaret grows desperate and anxious as a result of her inability to find a new house for the family. One day, Margaret is surprised by an invitation to join Evie and her fiancé at a restaurant for dinner. When she arrives, Mr. Wilcox is there too, and the two of them spend most of the dinner talking to each other while Evie and her fiancé flirt. Margaret and Mr. Wilcox engage in some playful banter, and Margaret asks Mr. Wilcox if he might rent out Howards End to the Schlegels. Since it is already rented out, he instead offers some practical advice for finding a place. They get along well with one another as they debate the issue of socialism.

They part, and Margaret suspects that Mr. Wilcox planned the whole dinner. She is surprised by the pace at which their friendship is progressing. She leaves the next morning to Aunt Juley’s in Swanage without having found a house.

While at Aunt Juley’s place during breakfast, Margaret receives a letter from Mr. Wilcox offering to rent his house on Ducie Street in London to the Schlegels. Margaret talks over the proposal with Helen and Tibby, and she decides to go to London to talk over the deal.