Lucy is abruptly awoken the next day and forced to quickly leave the inn in Boue-Marine by a man from the customhouse. She is the only lady present in the dining room at breakfast and notices that people can determine her social class just by looking at her once.

Lucy, remembering her final words with Miss Fanshawe, feels led to travel to Villette and find Madame Beck. She departs in a stagecoach unsure of exactly where to go. The weather is poor, but Lucy enjoys the scenery and tries to stifle her anxiety about the future. When the coach arrives in Villette, Lucy realizes her luggage is not there. She does not speak French and has to ask a handsome Englishman to translate for her, learning that the coach was overloaded and the luggage was therefore left behind; however, it will be returned. The man escorts her to the city and tells her where to find an inn.

Disoriented in the darkness, Lucy loses the path and is chased by two men. She eventually finds the staircase the Englishman mentioned and sees the name “M. Beck” on the door. Lucy knocks and asks to speak to Madame Beck.