Cornwall is the intended home of Robbie Dexter’s landscape-gardening business and the future he invites Rachel Elliot to share. Although the decisive breakup occurs elsewhere, the county marks the life Rachel chooses not to enter and shapes the distance that follows between them.

Robbie’s Proposed New Life

After deciding to start a landscape-gardening business in Cornwall, Robbie asks Rachel to accompany him. His invitation gives their relationship a concrete choice: settle into the life he is building, or continue separately. Rachel hesitates for several weeks before ending the relationship during a camping holiday in Wales, rather than accepting the move.

Distance and Aftermath

Robbie leaves for his new life hurt but still forgiving. For a time, he sends Rachel postcards asking her to take him back; they feature places on the Lizard Peninsula, a part of Cornwall associated with the future he had proposed. After a few months, even these brief connections cease.

Narrative Significance

Cornwall is not shown as the setting of a developed episode; it enters through Robbie’s business plans, his invitation, and the postcards that follow the breakup. Its significance lies in the contrast between his wish to settle down together and Rachel’s decision to refuse that future. The county thus becomes a geographical marker of both their separation and the affection that briefly persists across it.