Ethan marries his mother's caregiver, Zeena, because he felt he was obligated to do so. Zeena is an unemotional and diminutive woman that manipulates Ethan into defeat which kept him in an unhappy state. Zeena also seemed to be a hypochondriac which she used as a means of manipulation as well. All of a sudden Ethan was rejuvenated with a spark of life when he see Mattie, Zeena's cousin, and becomes taken with her. Mattie is the representative of everything that Ethan gave up for his life with Zeena and his deceased parents. Ethan wants to leave his wife, Zeena, for a happy and loving life with Mattie, but is not emotional or financially sound or strong enough to start that life with his beloved Mattie. Mattie feels the same about Ethan and loathes the way Zeena treats herself as a superior to others and especially the constant manipulation of Ethan. When Zeena leaves town to visit the doctor, Mattie tries to seduce Ethan. Mattie and Ethan's relationship starts with a great amount of awkwardness that it is almost paralyzing. Although there is awkwardness in their relationship, Ethan uses this opportunity to become a dominant figure and reassures Mattie that he will protect her from Zeena's wrath because the cat broke Zeena's pickle dish that Mattie used without permission. Zeena decides to make Mattie pack up and leave because she becomes aware of the relationship between Ethan and Mattie. Instead of the farmhand taking Mattie to the train station Ethan decided that he would take it upon himself to take her. On the way to the train station they ride past a sledding area where they first fell for each other. They decided to stop and go for one last ride down the hill, when they get to the bottom Mattie convinces Ethan to go down one more time, but this time to aim for the huge elm tree at the bottom and kill themselves so they could be together forever. On the way down Ethan sees images of his wife Zeena and he decides to swerve and it ends up paralyzing both of them in the process.
