St. Louis to cover the 1916 Democratic National Convention. During Reed's absence, Bryant falls into a complicated affair with O'Neill. Upon his return, Reed discovers the affair and realizes he still loves Bryant. The two marry secretly and make a home together in Croton-on-Hudson, New York, but still have conflicting desires. When Reed admits his own infidelities, Bryant takes a ship to Europe to work as a war correspondent. After a flare-up of a kidney disorder results in him having one of them removed, Reed is warned to avoid excessive travel or stress, but he decides to take the same path as Louise and goes to Europe. Reunited as professionals, the two find their passion rekindled as they travel to Russia and are swept up in the fall of the Czarist regime and the events of the 1917 Revolution. After returning to the United States, Reed writes Ten Days that Shook the World, while Louise is called to testify in front of the Overman Committee. In order to implement the Communist ideals he saw in Russia, Reed becomes active in the Socialist Party of America's new Left Wing Section. The Socialist Party soon undergoes a major political shift, with Reed and the Left Wing elected to 12 of its National Executive Committee's 15 seats, but the sitting members of the Committee prevent a takeover of the party by invalidating the election and expelling the entire Left Wing. Differing ideology among the expelled members causes them to splinter into two rival organizations, with Reed forming the Communist Labor Party of America. Anxious to establish his group as the United States' true Communist Party, Reed plans to return to Russia to secure official recognition from the Soviet Comintern. Having grown tired of the political infighting, Bryant threatens to end their relationship if he goes, but he does so anyway, promising to be home by Christmas. As it was now illegal to travel to Russia, Reed enters the country by traveling to Finland and sneaking across the border. Once there, though, he grows disillusioned with the authoritarian policies the Bolsheviks have imposed upon Communist Russia. Reed attempts to leave and return to Bryant, but is imprisoned in Finland after being caught trying to cross the border. After learning of his arrest, Louise seeks the U.S. government's help in securing his release, but it refuses, as in his absence he has been indicted on