chapter two talks and confirms tom's mistress and his slightly unexpected lifestyle when he is around her. in chapter one, it was just a rumor that tom had a mistress but in this chapter, he actually confirms it and takes nick along to her place only to witness the shocking lifestyle myrtle, the mistress, leads. she is actually married to a man she thought she had compatibility with only to regret later that he barely had what it took to make a man. myrtle and her sister catherine both married the wrong men and their relationships are awkward and unsatisfactory. even though it might seem unacceptable or awkward to talk about their unhappy marriages, the sisters openly express their true feelings about their marriages. maybe that could be what drew tom to myrtle.