At a family gathering the narrator's mother erupts after learning she is dating Alan—Audrey's son—ordering them out and warning against marrying someone "too dazzling." The outburst forces the narrator to cancel her honeymoon and leave alone for a month. Alan stays close; over the next year he lavishes gifts, cancels meetings to be with her, and she begins to trust his devotion. The immediate tension shifts from family betrayal to a private doubt, and the episode closes with her arriving at Alan's office alone by chance, an unresolved moment before a possible revelation.