The Notebook: Chapter 4 Summary & Analysis

Meanwhile, in Raleigh, Lon is growing agitated. He has called Allie’s hotel from his office several times—once at seven, once at eight thirty, and again, just now, at a quarter to ten. He wonders where she could be. As Lon thinks about Allie, he uses his brain—trained, as a lawyer, to focus on tiny details—to try to figure out where she could be and what could be going on.

As Lon thinks carefully about Allie’s behavior in recent weeks, he finds himself not annoyed or concerned but more in love with her than ever. He admires her fiery, no-nonsense attitude as well as the way she’s always seemed to know him better than he knows himself. Suddenly, a strange detail pops into Lon’s mind. He remembers that Allie told him she was going to New Bern—and he recalls her mother Anne, years ago, telling a story about Allie’s “puppy love” back in New Bern. Lon is perturbed. He begins to fear that Allie has returned to New Bern to seek out her old love. Determined to do anything to keep her, Lon picks up the phone and dials her room once again. For the fourth time that night, Allie does not answer.