Cap Ferrat is where Fern and James spend their honeymoon after marrying privately in the wake of a recent bereavement. The place frames a short interval of optimism, but the couple’s final evening also brings the practical question of where their married life will begin.

Honeymoon and Bereavement

Fern expects to explain the smallness of the wedding to friends by citing the recent tragic bereavement, then to describe the honeymoon in Cap Ferrat. The location is thus part of the account she plans to give others: a private marriage followed by a honeymoon, with grief as the reason for keeping the wedding small.

A Week of Optimism

In Cap Ferrat, the newlyweds spend a week in what the narrative presents as a bubble of optimism. The pleasures associated with the stay are concrete and abundant: fresh buttery croissants and towering multicoloured ice-creams. By the time the couple are due to fly home, Fern is noticeably heavier; the narrative leaves open whether the change is due to the food, the baby, or both.

The Last Evening

On the honeymoon’s final night, over chateaubriand and a bottle of claret, James raises the question of where they will live starting the next day. The shift from a week of holiday pleasure to an immediate decision about a home gives Cap Ferrat a transitional role: the stay offers a brief reprieve, but ends by directing the newlyweds toward the unresolved arrangements of married life.