Kevin had been a year in the West Indies, but his letters left Harriet in no doubt that his commitment to her was as strong as ever. Now in another week he would be back in England. How was she to break it to him that she had decided to end their engagement? She had been so sure when she entered into it, although the father she idolised had never liked Kevin and then blamed him bitterly for the accident in which Harriet's mother had died. Circumstances had not changed in Kevin's absence, there was no other man in her life. Why this new desire for independence instead of marriage? "Make a clean break," her father said, making it sound so easy, promising he would soon make life look more cheerful for her. Fortunately for Harriet at that moment, she had no premonition of the traumatic experiences ahead.