At last, freedom to dream...

As Coppelia and the man she loved sank further into their relationship, they wove for themselves plans and dreams. They did not hide from difficulties to come - from how his daughter may not find it easy to accept Coppelia - being two years older, at 49. They were aware that he, although very fit and well at 78 ( he had had a birthday since they first met) would be likely to die long before her.

They considered various problems that may arise due to their decison, and imagined ways to accommodate these. Yet the commitment now made was a great comfort and enabled them to endure the sadnesses of their situation.

Once he was able to leave H and things were settled, they would make their home in that lovely town on the north Norfolk coast, converting his holiday home into a dwelling more suited to permanent residency. Coppelia would often imagine the two of them waking in that place, day after day, coming home to each other each evening, walking on the cliffs, by the shore. Sometimes she felt she could not bear to wait another day, she so longed to be released from what felt like a prison.

Still, those weeks before H's birthday were filled with joyous adventures. They explored the Ouse Valley Way during several outings, spent some nights on the Norfolk coast, sat talking and laughing in pubs and bars, wandered and wondered and waited. In her secret heart of hearts she would, from time to time, ask herself what she'd do if it all fell apart, if he lost his nerve. Then the risk she was taking would pierce through the calm, but she could only follow this path they had chosen, she could only have faith in the power of love itself to shine through whatever darkness may lie before them. In those days she read out loud to him a poem by William Butler Yeats -

Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,

Enwrought with golden and silver light,

The blue and the dim and the dark cloths

of night, and light and the half-light,

I would spread the cloths under your feet:

But I, being poor, have only my dreams;

I have spread my dreams under your feet

Tread softly, for you tread on my dreams.

And he, in those days, wrote some lines for her -

When you think of me

your only thought should be

my love is all for you

that your eyes have me in thrall

you have me in your spell

and I am happy

A few days after the big birthday party for H, he kept his promise to Coppelia. One Thursday morning in early May he asked H to sit down as he had something important to tell her.