Two swans glide serenely on a gilded lake before a thatched cottage at sunset, framed within an elaborate Art Nouveau cartouche flanked by deep crimson and peach roses and cascading sprays of purple violets — a lush, jewel-toned birthday card printed in Germany at the zenith of Edwardian chromolithography. The back carries only a penciled note in three words — "Bennie, from Bridget" — no address, no stamp, no postmark; this card was never mailed, preserved perhaps as a keepsake, a token of friendship between two people whose full story now rests in these three words alone.