A heavy snowfall. Joanna's mother greets a visitor — "He was my first love" — and Joanna asks who he is. The mother reveals that after Joanna's father died he left unpaid debts, took bribe money from the Collins family, and court action threatens to seize their house. Joanna says she's arranged a way out and won't stay trapped, sparking her confession, "I wasn't a good wife... and I can't be a good mother either." Someone slips in the snow; helpers ask, "Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?" Their escape plan and the visitor's role remain unresolved.