A few months later, on a sunny spring morning, Julia is walking in the gardens. Everywhere there is a wash of colour sweeping across the place, signs of new life and the sound of birdsong. She remembers how she came here after that first chance meeting with Martin, hoping to see him again, and how she found him sitting on the bench by the lake, gazing at the little dinghy, the Nancy Fortescue.
‘I was so afraid that I would never see you again,’ he said, and she sat down beside him, knowing that something momentous, wonderful, was beginning.
She goes into the tearooms for some coffee, allows herself to be tempted by some delicious chocolate cake, chats with Steve, who brings her coffee, and looks at the watercolours. Afterwards she makes her way round the side of the house to the little gift shop where she buys some Charlotte Marlow cards and a candle. Coming out again into the sunshine, hesitating just for a moment, she turns her steps towards the Arboretum. Pausing between two camellia bushes on the path above the lake, she sees that the Nancy Fortescue is back in the water and, at the same time, she notices the two people who are sitting on the bench beside the lake. Julia stands quite still, watching. The young man has his arm about the girl, holding her close. They are laughing together and, even as she watches them, El looks up at Will and he bends his head to kiss her.
For some reason Julia remembers Martin’s first text to her:
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Woodstock.
The words sing in her head: ‘We are stardust, we are golden … And we’ve got to get ourselves back to the garden.’ She longs to join them, to share in their joy, but she hesitates. She imagines El’s surprise, Will attempting an introduction, being forced to explain how he approached Julia. It will be clumsy, awkward, and it’s early days in their relationship. She knows in her heart that the time will come, but not now; not yet.
Julia turns back, passing between the camellias, and walks away into the bright spring sunshine.