Gayle is the mother of the former bride-to-be, Elise Finnegan, who has lost her groom, Steven Lambert. Unfortunately, the man who was lost was Steven, but not Lambert - his name was Fletcher. At least, his latest set of ID claimed that was who he was. Steven was a con man, and, for a society matron of standing, Gayle takes this, and the subsequent, ever more bizarre revelations - like the fact that he was killed on a simulated Arctic expedition - in her stride to a remarkable degree.