She froze in his arms, trying to buy some time and think how she can get herself out of this horrible and seemingly unstoppable situation. Eric kept dragging her across this large studio towards the back door. Finally, Elizabeth understood his intentions.

Behind the studio, her mother had designed a beautiful garden with a couple of streams, brightly-colored flowers, and little bridges built in Japanese style. She even acquired a couple of really cute teahouses or pavilions from Japan, where Elizabeth liked to sit and enjoy a book, a conversation or simply to rest there and listen to her sister Katie practicing her singing.

This garden was always a place of solitude, of laughter, of peace and of comfort for Elizabeth, and at this time on Friday night nobody was nearby. Her father was away on one of his annual business conventions, her mother and Katie were visiting Aunt Martha who lived in the Northern California, and most of the servants were given a night off.

Elizabeth’s painting lesson started later than usual and the servants who were still in the house had already retired to bed in the servants’ quarters, which were located in the farthest wing of the house. Elizabeth was expected to go with her mother, but had stayed behind because she was developing a little cold and didn’t want to make it worse by riding the carriage for several miles just to visit an aunt whom she honestly couldn’t stand.

Aunt Martha was several years older than her sister, Maxine, and every moment during the visit of her relatives was used by her to complain about her spinster misfortune. She blamed Maxine for stealing the young, rich and rigidly handsome Melvin from under her nose claiming that all the time he was passionately in love with Martha. According to her, Maxine basically bewitched him, and because of her Martha was suffering from unrequited love all her life.

Of course, it didn’t happened that way but Maxine felt the need to visit Martha once in a while, to give her sister the satisfaction of telling her that her marriage was nothing extraordinary and Melvin was often away on business, leaving Maxine all alone. Martha was the only living relative Maxine had left in this world and she saw it as her duty to keep peace with her. Anything to make Aunt Martha happy, right?