Shirley and Vedeniapine had first met in early September 1947, on a day marked by “clarity of sky and air,” and soon were attached, if not publicly a couple. On New Year’s Day 1948 Shirley recorded in her diary, “Half day at work. Alec took me for a walk before lunch … we climbed a hillside into a hollow and he took me in his arms and kissed me, differently than before. It was warm and green and blue and peaceful, and we stayed there until lunch time—Happy New Year!” This diary reveals a very different relationship from the grave passion shared by Helen Driscoll and Aldred Leith in The Great Fire. The attraction between the young woman and older man is clear, but so too are the vast differences in their experiences and interests. While they shared a passion for poetry, Alec was also deeply connected to the local world of Hong Kong, to active and solitary pursuits, and to his friendships with other men—sailing with Dick Kindersley, taking long walks around Hong Kong and surrounding islands, fishing. These were not worlds Shirley could or would share. At thirty-two, Alec was nearly twice her age, clearly charmed by her intellect and bright beauty but also reluctant to consolidate a flirtation into more public form, in part at least because of the impropriety of their age difference and, no doubt, also with an eye to his position in the office and in the British community in Hong Kong. He raised with Chris Cooper his concern at Shirley’s “emotional instability and fretting,” indicating his reservations about their compatibility despite being engaged by her “mental abilities.” The romantic interludes recorded in her diary are not infrequent, but there was clearly some inconsistency in Alec’s responses, some vacillation, and Shirley, consumed by anxiety, longing, and a confusion driven by inexperience with intimacy and affairs of the heart, was shaken by their fleeting nature. This was her first significant emotional connection outside her family, and it perhaps lent an intensity that in turn further constrained Alec’s responses to her.