What will happen next?
Maxwell is sitting in his office, busy preparing his welcome gift for Fran. He had asked Luise, who works for his parents, to make some of her wonderful chocolate pralines. He wraps up each one nicely and puts it in the prepared box. He glued a picture of himself on the lid and wrote 'Maxwell's Praliné' underneath. He is in the middle of his work when there is a sudden knock on the door. He hastily puts the box of chocolates away. It is his mother again, who has come into the office.
"Hello Maxwell Darling! Good to see you. Can you tell me where your father is? I can't find him anywhere and I have to discuss something urgent with him."
"I'm sorry Mother, I can't help you. I don't know where Dad is. He just stopped by earlier and said he has an important meeting downtown."
"Okay, then please tell him when you see him he should contact me. Oh, by the way, I won't be home for dinner. So I'll see you later."
"Maybe we won't see us until tomorrow. I have a date this evening."
"Oh yeah?!" Elisabeth Sheffield pricks up her ears. "With that lovely Chastity Claire? It's great that you two get along so well. I knew she would be a good match for you."
"For sure Mother!" mutters Maxwell, but avoids looking at his mother. "Besides, you know she prefers it when you call her CC."
"That's right, I forgot. In any case, I think it's nice of you that you make an effort with her. By the way, speaking of which..." She rummages in her bag and pulls out a newspaper. "There's a report about the benefit concert in the 'London Times'. You should read it."
"I will Mother. But I am actually very busy right now. I have still a lot of work to do and I don't want to be late for my date."
"Of course I understand." His mother gets ready to leave. "You definitely shouldn't keep your new girlfriend waiting!"
"You say it! I can't wait to finally see her again."
His thoughts, however, are not directed towards CC.
After his mother left, Maxwell hurries to finish his gift. Without even looking for the article, he puts the newspaper aside. He didn't lie when he said to his mother he still has tons of work to do and he really doesn't want to be late.
Fran enjoyed a lovely dinner with the Kents. She talked about her time in New York and the wedding. Afterwards she played with Meredith and Susan for a long time until she finally managed to get the two girls into bed. Now she is in her room and is unpacking her suitcase. She is happy to be back here. After she put all her things away, she gets ready for her date with Maxwell. She changes her clothes and renews her make-up. She feels a tickle of excitement. She wonders what it will be like when she sees him again.
Just before she leaves the house, she takes one last quick peek into the girls' room. Both are sleeping peacefully in their beds, holding their new dolls that Fran brought them from New York tightly in their arms. Fran smiles and closes the door quietly. Then she sneaks downstairs and out the back door. She crosses the garden and sits down on the bench where she had agreed to meet Maxwell.
Her heart is pounding extremely. She hopes and prays that the misunderstanding with the article will be cleared up. Fran has the page with the article with her. However, she decided not to mention the picture. She wants to wait if Maxwell will come clean by himself and tells her that everything was perfectly innocent. Then she hears his car.