1956

“My baby is all grown up.” A man in his mid-fifties said, he was beside a young lady in her late teens, they stood at an open window and looked across the garden. The broad, level lawn was dotted with mature trees; a scotch pine, a pair of mighty oaks, several chestnuts and a willow like a head of girlish curls. The birds were silent, but a hum of contented bees came from the flowering creeper beside the window.

“Are you referring to your daughter, Mr. Hwang?” the young lady asked. She heard just this morning that the man’s daughter and son would arrive today from America. Everyone was on their feet for they were expecting a feast for the arrival of the Hwangs.

“Well yes I am, Taeyeon” Mr. Hwang smiled “That’s the reason why I called for you.” She knew it, he needed something from her.

“What would you like me to help you with, sir?”

Mr. Hwang sipped his sherry “My daughter will be introduced to society in a couple of weeks and I need you to watch over her while she’s preparing for her presentation.”

Ah! A debutante, she thought, a girl from an upper class family who has reached the age of maturity. It only means that Mr. Hwang’s daughter would be eligible to marry in a few weeks. It’s a tradition that Taeyeon would never understand. She was part of what they call the lower class. Not that she minds it, she loved her life that way; she doesn’t need to go to balls and dances, she doesn’t need to mingle with people she doesn’t like, she wasn’t obligated to marry and the most important advantage was that she doesn’t have to pretend to be someone she’s not.

She’d been with the Hwang’s for as long as she can remember. Her mother worked at the Hwang’s plantation and she’d been running errands for Mr. Hwang since she was a child.

Mr. Hwang was kind hearted, she had always looked up to him, she was the nearest thing to a father that the girl had, after her own father died. How can she then, not follow his orders?

“Would you want me to coach her before she’ll be presented?” she said.

“Not really, I’ll have her governess Shinyoung to do that. I just want you to keep an eye on her; she needs someone around her age to be with.” Mr. Hwang replied “I know you have a lot to do at the plantation but she doesn’t know anyone here and you’re the only one I can trust. Stephanie is a lovely girl; it’s her attitude that disturbs me. She’s unwilling to take anything at face value these days.” He sighed. “I guess I have to wait until some handsome man starts paying attention to her, she’ll soon change her mind.” He took another sip of his sherry.

The remark irritated Taeyeon, implying at it did that all girls were the slaves of their romantic natures. It made him sound like an empty-headed bastard, which he was not.

Taeyeon sympathized with the said girl. What if she doesn’t want to follow the ridiculous traditions of their class? The reason why she’s doing acts of rebellion just weeks before her debut. Taeyeon was different from the other eighteen-year-old girls herself, she never liked the subject about marriage and children, she would rather ride around the neighborhood in her bicycle than go out with men who asks her out, she finds it absurd when women try so hard to impress the bachelors in their area, as if their life would end if they don’t get a husband. That’s something she would never do, for Taeyeon never found men interesting, she never shown the slightest feeling for them.

Now he wants me to look out for his daughter, to make sure she won’t do anything what would put him to shame. Stephanie was it? She never saw the man’s wife and she only saw the man’s children about once or twice but that was years ago, she could hardly remember what they looked like.

“I’ll introduce you to her; Stephanie will be here in a few.”

Just then, at the far end of the drive, a quarter of a mile away, a motor car appeared. The motor car turned in to the gravel forecourt and came to a noisy, shuddering halt opposite the south door. Exhaust fumes drifted in at the window and Taeyeon held her breath. The driver got out, wearing a helmet, goggles and a heavy motoring coat and opened the door for the passengers.

A young man who looked like he was in his mi