"Dearest Reader,

I do believe quite earnestly, that today shall be my end. Do not accuse me of being dramatic for you have not met my mother. Therefore, you do not know how enraged she will be once she learns of the disaster that I have brought upon myself.

My mother, Phillipa Marie Fontaine, is and always will be traditional. Her concern with the public's views of the family will always overrule her concern for me. For I am but the bane of her existence and this final act will no doubt bring her to despise me. I say this as I have done the worst thing an unmarried woman could do.

I, Odette Florence Fontaine, am with child.

And I have never been more terrified in my life.