At a society recital, Laura—the maid's daughter living in Angela's house—stuns listeners by flawlessly performing a technically demanding violin piece, clearly outplaying Angela. Humiliated, Angela confronts Laura, accusing her: "You kept this from me for so long. Did you do it to humiliate me?" Laura explains her aunt hired top violinist Mia Hall as her teacher and she took lessons with Angela. Angela snaps, "Why didn't you tell us earlier?" Their argument escalates into blame and denials and ends unresolved, Angela furious and Laura defensive, setting up an immediate fallout.