Wynand and Dominique spend the two weeks after their wedding in his penthouse. Talking, mostly. Then he returns to work at the Banner. Scarret notices that he is happy; Toohey says, too bad.
A popular columnist at the Banner, Sally Brent, decides to disobey the boycott and shows up at the penthouse to interview Dominique, who gives her lots of "He's so dreamy" material, which Brent fashions into a profile of the couple. A copy of the draft article is sent to Wynand. Brent is fired. She pens an article about the Wynands that is published in New Frontiers.
Dominique places her copy of the "Fire the bitch" cable on her mirror. When Wynand sees it, she tells him Toohey gave it to her. She can't gauge his reaction, other than to observe his continued interest in the piece of paper.
Dominique gets tickets for Wynand and herself to a horrible play being puffed by Fougler. They sit through the whole thing. The audience is bullied by critical opinion into laughing at the dreadful comedy; Fougler has claimed a person's worth can be measured by their ability to appreciate the play. Dominique sees the play as an abomination created by the Banner; afterward, she tweaks Wynand: This is your life's achievement! Wynand: I can think of something worse—having a good play performed in front of the crowd of jackasses we sat among tonight.
This is an ongoing theme of the book: There are a few great men and women, and the rest of the people of the world are unworthy. Nice. I'd like to see that in needlepoint.
On another occasion, Wynand tells Dominique: What you really love is integrity. I look for opportunities to show it doesn't exist. What I admire is power.
Gazing at the skyline from their penthouse one night, Wynand says to Dominique: Some day I will have a Wynand Building erected to house the Banner. It will be a great achievement. But I'm not ready for that yet. Dominique: Do you know what you need to do right now? Fire Ellsworth Toohey. He's scheming to gain control over the Wynand newspaper syndicate. From there he plans to take over the world.
I am not making this up. And so far as I can tell, the only way Dominique could know this is if she is reading The Fountainhead. Yeah, that must be it.
Wynand: Wha? I'm the master-of-the-universe type, not Toohey. Fuhgeddaboudit.
And still later Dominique asks Wynand's forgiveness for what she is doing to him. She doesn't love him. Wynand: No worries. I love you.
Dominique crumples up the "Fire the bitch" cable and throws it out.
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