After a happy childhood, Belle finds herself lost following her mother’s death, as her father grows distant and her sister leaves home. Painting becomes her way of understanding the world and expressing its mysteries—her outlet, and the last thread connecting her to her beloved father, an art dealer.

A bit older now, the Beast has secluded himself in his manor ever since the sudden departure of his wife. Consumed by grief, he shatters a large mirror, and its shards disfigure him. Deaf to any sign of kindness or friendship, he believes himself safe from the world behind his hardened shell. But then Belle appears, coming to deliver the final rose from the medallion, as promised by the art dealer...

Both narrator and character, the Lady cannot pierce the Beast’s armor, despite the unwavering strength of her secret and idealized love—because she remains, after all, an old woman. But she will let go of her impossible dream upon realizing that only Belle can truly bring the Beast back to life.