A cold, winter wind is whipping in from the ocean this afternoon in San Francisco. On the second floor of the Barbour family home, Clifford is in his room, sitting at his newly purchased desk. A large book - Conveyancing of Real Property - lies before him, and is open to page one. However, his eyes aren't on it, as he is gazing pensively out of the window. Fanny is downstairs wondering when Henry might be home from the real estate office that Clifford has apparently forsaken...