"I'd be honoured to help 'ee," Demelza says and she knows a dog isn't going to fix everything, it's not going undo the pain that's been caused by learning her fate, but they are wonderful creatures and she thinks the company of a dog might truly help where other things will be unable. Unconditional love of that nature is so rare and Demelza thinks if there's anyone who needs such a thing right now, it's Greta.

There's more to caring for a dog now than there had been back in Cornwall and although she knows it, has experienced it with Garrick, it still sometimes seems odd to her. She'd been instructed that she ought to buy Garrick a bed, though after she'd bought it, he had sniffed at it a few times, then flopped down on the floor beside it. Julia tends to sleep on it more often than Garrick ever does and yet it seems as if all over dogs love their beds. Demelza had come to the decision that Garrick is, like her, simply out of his time.

"You must think about what size of dog you'd like, I think," she says thoughtfully. "Though I think you also ought to be prepared to have your mind changed quite swiftly if one particular dog captures your attention."