Vivien ignored her relatives' advice.
Some inner conviction compelled Vivien to visit Malaya. She felt her godfather had a reason for leaving her his home and only there would she find the answer. The air journey from England to Malaya takes rather more than three days and nights. During that flight Vivien sat next to tall, handsome Dr Tom Stransom - and he hardly spoke to her except to put her markedly in the wrong in an annoying incident in Rangoon.
So she more surprised than pleased when she met him again at the House of Seven Fountains that had been left to her by her godfather. Bewildered by the strangeness of the East, she was even more confused by her godfather's closest friend, Tom. He was alternately aloof and friendly, teasing and sarcastic - and apparently quite indifferent to the feelings he aroused in her.