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MacIntyre slowly opens up to Charley, recounting in detail his service in the Special Boat Squadron during the 1982 Falklands Campaign and the doomed men of his patrol - the stoic Liverpudlian Scazz, dependable Corporal Andy Murray and the creative and talented marine, Lee Thompson, tragically killed by 'friendly-fire' from another covert patrol. Charley displays a maturity that MacIntyre finds reassuring and provides the counselling that he has steadfastly rejected since the war. She introduces him to astrology and quotes Shakespeare freely: he slowly becomes more sure of his sanity and more inquisitive about her.

Although he is captivated and comforted by her charm and deep concern, at first MacIntyre rejects her clumsy and naive advances before they ultimately become lovers; clinging to each other and immersing themselves in the river journey, a shared interest in music, and their devotion to an orgy of self discovery and abandoned hedonism.

Triumphant in the discovery of lost confidence and love, MacIntyre is further cheered by police who inform him of the recovery of his embezzled assets, and his ex-partner's death at the hands of Colombian drug dealers. He is then devastated by Charley's confession: She is suffering an incurable disease and has briefly escaped before she confronts her family and her own death. She stresses that their time together has enabled her to come to terms with this but fears that the revelation will plunge him back into despair. She reluctantly leaves him with the boat's owner, David Patience, promising that she will call him to join her later.

Finally, MacIntyre is summoned to Cornwall by Charley's parents, but arrives too late. They have read her comprehensive diaries of their relationship and welcome him as a member of the family. Plunged back into the horror, self-reproach and uncertainty of his past, he excuses himself, walks to the cliffs and puts his 'war souvenir' gun to his mouth once again.