Before dawn on January 25, June Porter Hudson follows her disciplined routine in her basement apartment on the Avallon grounds, tending to her three dachshunds, drinking the mineral “sweetwater,” and dressing for work. As general manager, June reflects on the vast scope of her responsibilities and the Avallon’s elite clientele, as well as her philosophy that luxury is about carefree living rather than wealth.

June and staff captain Griff Clemons inspect the ballroom rehearsal for a Burns Night tartan ball. They banter about Griff’s five-year-old twins and the strains of wartime, while the narrative situates the moment: the event is the first major party since owner Francis Gilfoyle’s death and since Pearl Harbor. June has chosen to proceed with the ball to preserve the Avallon’s identity as a sanctuary of the present, even as she quietly stockpiles scarce goods in anticipation of war shortages.

June recalls a recent conversation with Edgar David Gilfoyle—Francis’s heir and June’s on-and-off lover—who assured her war would not reach the hotel. She has begun evaluating staff through the lens of draft exemptions and labor stability. As rehearsal begins, workers lower a concealed ceiling apparatus that releases hundreds of floating Bristol sheets printed with Robert Burns’s poems. The descent is mesmerizing, embodying June’s belief that luxury must be nimble.

During the test, a wooden rung from the floor above crashes to the ballroom floor, narrowly missing a worker. The end is rotted, and some staff mutter about the haunted fourth floor. June dismisses the superstition, attributing it to possible mechanical disturbance, though Griff fleetingly wonders if Francis’s death has unsettled things. June insists the pervasive sweetwater is not responsible.

Theophilus “Theo” Morse, Griff’s young runner, arrives breathless with urgent news. He reports that Edgar Gilfoyle is leaving New York for a meeting at the Avallon and wants June present. Pressed for the client’s identity, Theo reveals it is the State Department.

June, an expert listener, senses what is unsaid: the government intends to requisition the hotel. Theo confirms they are taking the Avallon for the war effort. June recognizes that despite Edgar Gilfoyle’s earlier promise, war has found the hotel—and that he will be the one to open the door to it.