From the edge of the pier, Vera sorrowfully calls out her final goodbyes to Alan’s ship. She watches until the ship carries her first love away and is no more than a speck in the distance. At home, she is greeted by the sickly moans of her old father, who may be near his death. She sends Lily, their young house attendant, to fetch the doctor. The doctor determines it is nothing serious, and Vera informs her father that she has chosen to part with Alan to be by his side. He thanks her gratefully and says that she will not regret the decision. Vera recalls the way her father happily raised her even after her mother died while she was a baby. She remembers an instance when she almost broke her neck, and her father’s frightening reaction where he put a gun to his head in a demonstration of what he would do if she died. Vera met Alan in her early twenties, and he was her first relationship. Her father did not like him at first, and Alan expressed to Vera that he would not tolerate her father meddling in their relationship. Although Alan presented her with the choice to get married and move to Australia, Vera feels relieved that she stayed, since her father’s health is only getting worse. She writes Alan to inform him of the situation, and express her sadness at their parting. To help with her father’s recovery, she hires Rita, a young and pretty nurse. Her father takes an immediate liking to Rita and playfully flirts with her, but Vera does not like her. One day, Vera receives a letter from Alan saying that he met a woman on board who looks just like her. His next letter says that he has hit it off with her look-alike on board and that he is thankful for her role in their meeting. When Vera tells her father that Alan is permanently out her life, he begins to talk about her dead mother. After death, his one wish is to see her mother again, and he makes no mention of Vera herself.