As night falls, Jenni drops off to sleep early and is plagued by dreams of Marion before she is awakened by another shriek. At Marion's elaborate tombstone, Mickey tells Jenni that he hears Marion crying at night, then runs away, distraught. After Eric leaves to run errands, Jenni locates Mickey in the greenhouse and hoping to befriend him, offers to accompany him to Marion's grave, which is on the property. The next morning, Eric tells Jenni that Mickey was responsible for the pounding during the night. Eric then shows Jenni peacocks in the courtyard and prompts one to give its unique, high-pitched call, which Jenni accepts as the shriek she heard. Eric informs her it is a self-portrait of Marion. When Jenni bolts, she runs into Eric and tells him that the woman in the portrait bears a striking resemblance to her mother. Going downstairs, Jenni peers out a window and is startled by a piercing shriek, then is further unsettled by her sudden awareness of a portrait of a woman in the empty room. That night, Jenni is awakened by a loud pounding and finds herself alone. Snow tells her husband that Jenni is very wealthy. Ed adds that Mickey remains despondent over Marion's sudden death. Ed tells her that they surmise that Marion slipped and struck her head on a low wall and tumbled into the pond while hurrying from the greenhouse during a rainstorm. Meanwhile, Jenni asks Ed about Marion's death. Snow that Jenni is sensitive about discussing traumatic events because she witnessed her parents' accidental drowning deaths some years earlier. Later while walking in the gardens, Eric confides to Mrs. Snow tells Jenni that Micky and Marion grew up together and were very close. While helping the Whitlocks settle in, Mrs. Hearing their voices, Mickey the gardener, a simple, shy man, ventures forth to meet Jenni. Eric shows Jenni around the grounds until they are interrupted by the unexpected arrival of Eric's friends, Rev. Eric explains that Marion had disposed of the furniture with the intention of redecorating, but had then met with an abrupt death. Although the house's expansive grounds are immaculate, it is eerily empty and dark inside. Eric Whitlock brings his new wife Jenni to his large home, from which he has been absent since the death of his former wife Marion, two years earlier.
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