"Tis very different here," Demelza says. "Perhaps even where you're from, though perhaps not, if your father should have such opinions on who you love. Captain Blamey, he were the man Verity was in love with, and his first wife had died after he pushed her during an argument. He was in his cups at the time and he went to gaol, served his time, he did stop drinkin'. There wasn't a mean bone in his body, I would swear to it, but Verity's brother and father saw him as an unfit match."

She pauses and looks at Baz. "I were an unfit match for Ross, too. I'm just a scullery maid and he's a gentleman. My father didn't approve and Ross's uncle didn't approve. Ross and I, and you and Simon, perhaps we're all in the same type of situation at the end, though I suppose I understand more that one might not approve of me than of you and Simon."

As far as she can tell, they're both so kind, and status doesn't seem to mean as much in more modern times. "It weren't about status, were it? I mean, would it have been, if your father knew? For Ross and I, that's what it was."