Fates and Furies

Mathilde meets the private investigator for a second time and is impressed by her acting ability. The investigator propositions Mathilde to celebrate her discoveries from her most recent stakeout.

At 50 years old, Mathilde returns to Paris. She sets out to buy a countryside house near Paris for the summers and enlists the mayor to attain its acquisition for her through her attorney. She enjoys all the French food that she missed, but must return to America until the sale of her dream home is finalized.

After a couple of months, Mathilde gets ownership of the house at a fraction of what she was willing to pay, but far above the place’s actual market value. She behests Klaus, her attorney, to enter phase two of her plan, which is to figure out a way to destroy the 400-year-old house she’s just bought by burning it to the ground.

Mathilde exposes all truths she ever kept from Lotto during their marriage. She ghostwrites a clean version of his debut play, The Springs, and polishes it for reception with producers. When no one buys production rights, Mathilde blackmails her uncle to sell a stolen painting by Jan van Eyck that Mathilde found at his house long ago, in order to finance Lotto’s plays through an anonymous “private financier.” When Lotto returns and gets the call that his play will be produced, he’s ecstatic.

Later, after her uncle dies from a carjacking, Mathilde inherits his collection of vintage Japanese erotica, which she is able to sell at a used bookstore to buy Lotto a moderately expensive reward for his “writing accomplishments.”

The morning after opening night, Lotto is disheartened by his one negative review from Phoebe Delmar. Mathilde has to encourage Lotto to write another play and see if Phoebe will change her mind.