Judith seems to be a woman that leads herself from the heart. This part starts with the death of Edward. His plane is shot, and one fellow pilot saw the aircraft explode. Jeremy is there to comfort her, and he tells her that he knew she loved Edward. That is the moment Judith decides to join the WREN, and she asks Phyllis to keep an eye on her aunt Biddy while she is away.
Judith is sent to Southampton where she works as the secretary of Colonel Cromby. Before departing, Diana gave her the key to her flat in London and told her to use the flat if she was ever in the city. Judith goes to London one weekend to meet her friend Heather, who works for a govenment department, and she keeps everything in secret. Judith does not even know where she is stationed. The two young women enjoy a wonderful day even though Judith feels under the weather as she seems to be coming down with a cold. Heather has to leave, and Judith returns to the flat. While she is there, she hears the door open, and she discovers Jeremy, who tells her that Diana also gave him a key. The two talk, and Jeremy tells her to go to bed as she is clearly unwell and gives her a tablet. Apart from feeling poorly, Judith is also sad because she has not had news from her family in Singapore, and the news is not reassuring. The Japanese are now there, taking over the country, and Judith fears the worst. Jeremy comforts her, hugging her in bed, and when Jeremy tells her that he needs to move because otherwise, he will get carried away, Judith says that she wants him. So they spend the night together, and the following day Jeremy tells her that he will write to her.
When Judith returns to Southampton, there is a letter from her mother, explaining that she and Jess are about to board a ship that will take them to Australia, but Bruce will stay behind. That letter reassures her, but this is the last letter that Judith gets. There is no communication from Jeremy either. We read the letter that he is writing to her from New York, revealing his feelings, but then he thinks that Judith, who has money and prospects, should aspire to something more than a simple rural doctor as he is, and he shouldn't be selfish. So the letter is never sent, and I think Jeremy proves to be chauvinistic and selfish because he has chosen on behalf of Judith without asking her what she really wants.
Judith receives a call from Loveday, telling her that she needs to see her in London at once. Even though it is short notice, Judith manages to get leave. In London Loveday tells her that she knows that Gus is dead. Gus was stationed in Singapore, and she claims that in the same way she knew he was alive when he was reported missing in action, this time she knows he is dead. Then she drops another bomb, saying that she is marrying Walter Mudge, the farmer who she has been friends with forever. Judith is disapproving, saying that it is crazy to do something like that just because she thinks Gus is dead. Loveday keeps saying that she likes Walter and they have always enjoyed the same things, and she does not want to be called up and be sent away. Judith keeps saying that she doesn't have to marry him, and then Loveday says that she is pregnant, and she is marrying him in a month. Judith realises that Loveday wants this indeed, so she changes her tune. Some weeks later Judith attends the wedding, and it is a happy occasion. Months later Loveday has a baby she calls Nat.
The action moves forward, and in 1945 the war in Europe is over, and Judith is in Ceylon as a WREN. It is during this time when the bombs are dropped in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the war ends. Some weeks later she is called by a superior as they have news about her family. All Judith knows is that the ship where her mother and Jess were travelling did not reach Australia. The officer tells her that they have news that her father was in a prison and died of dysentery in 1942, and the ship where her mother and sister were travelling was torpedoed, and they have found no survivors. So Judith is simply alone. The superior asks her to take some compassionate leave, and she decides to travel to Colombo, where her aunt Bob is stationed. In Colombo she is happy to be with Uncle Bob again and has fun, going out with an officer called Hugo.
Apart from Judith, the end of the war brings changes for the characters. Athena's Rupert was wounded in the last days of the war, and one of his legs had to be amputated. Athena travelled to the hospital to be with him, and when he was discharged, the family moved to his family home. Biddy has stayed in Cornwall for the duration of the war, and she writes to Bob saying that when Judith returns and takes possession of her home, she doesn't want to return to devon but wants to find a place of their own not far from her. And Loveday leads a contented life with her husband and her baby Nat. In a letter from Loveday Judith also learns that Jeremy is on a ship near Gibraltar and may be travelling on the Mediterranean.
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