Penelope

"As I approached her, she offered me a peach from her basket, and invited me to sit with her. I knew immediately that I would grow to hold her dear in my heart. These picnics became our daily ritual throughout that fated summer. We ate and laughed and confided in one another, we became companions. Although I did not visit the Benoit Manor until many years later, it is from my friendship with Penelope that I gained my knowledge of the story you will soon hear.

The summer that I spent with Penelope changed my view of the world, and through her stories I would often find myself questioning the very nature of that which I called reality. While I promised on my grave that I would never speak of what she told me that summer, I feel it necessary to tell someone before my passing. In my old age I find that I must rid myself of the weight I have been carrying all these years. During my visit to the family's manor, I came upon her diary, and was able to piece together what truly happened to Penelope Benoit. That being said, I have taken her detailed entries, along with the verbal accounts she gave me, and wrote the account that you are about to read."