Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of ableism and death.

Klaus Ziegler, a waiter at the Meredith Hotel in the seaside town of Hazelbourne, feels that Constance Haverhill, companion to the grand lady, Mrs. Eleanor Fog, has too much freedom. Though she seems “respectable enough,” she is often unchaperoned. When she arrives, alone, at the Grand Dining Room, he cannot seat her. He apologizes, offering to have food sent to her room, as he obliged to maintain the “ragged standards” left after the war. She understands, causing him to reflect on the value of these standards. Before the war, a German waiter commanded respect; now, Klaus is encouraged to speak as little as possible.

Constance pretends to admire the lobby flowers while processing the sting of her rejection. She is a companion to Mrs. Fog, the mother of Lady Mercer, who was an old schoolmate of Constance’s own mother. Lady Mercer married a lord, while Constance’s mother married a farmer. Constance’s rejection from the dining room draws her uncertainty about her future into sharp focus. In the lobby, she overhears another young woman being denied service by the undermanager. Constance offers to join her if a companion is all that is needed, but the undermanager explains that ladies are served on the Palm Terrace and only if they are wearing “afternoon attire.