Emma

Emma is Adam Dalgliesh’s beloved and, at the novel’s close, the woman with whom he decides to marry. Their reunion on Combe Island resolves a period of silence and uncertainty: Emma confirms her love, then turns the reunion into a practical commitment by proposing that they set a wedding date and visit Father Martin together.

Relationship with Adam Dalgliesh

During Adam Dalgliesh’s illness, Kate Miskin considers making a second call to Emma to tell her that he is resting quietly, hoping the news will comfort her. The moment establishes Emma as someone closely concerned with Adam’s condition, though the passage does not describe their conversation.

As Adam prepares to leave Combe Island, he reflects that he and Emma have spoken only rarely during the preceding two weeks. He has already written to propose marriage and believes he has received an answer, but the separation leaves him uncertain about what that answer means for their future. He considers writing again, then rejects the idea as potentially importunate; asking while he was still sick, he thinks, might also have seemed like an appeal for pity. His difficulty is sharpened by distance and by his loss of confidence in telephone conversations. He believes that a truth between lovers is better written, so it can be weighed in solitude, or spoken face to face.

Anxiety Before the Reunion

Adam expects Emma to tell him that she loves him, but cannot be sure what will follow. His fear is not that her affection has disappeared so much as that affection may not be enough to secure a shared future. He wonders whether Clara Beckwith, who dislikes him, might have spoken against him, or whether her objections might reflect Emma’s own unacknowledged doubts. These are Adam’s apprehensions, not confirmed judgments by either woman.

The possibility of another separation recalls Adam’s earlier relationships and their endings. He braces himself to hear Emma end their relationship, resolving to accept such an answer with dignity. The contrast between that imagined rejection and the reunion that follows makes his uncertainty a crucial part of the scene: he approaches Emma expecting to have to relinquish hope, not knowing that she is about to make their commitment explicit.

Reunion and Decision to Marry

When the helicopter lands, Emma steps out, hesitates briefly, and then runs into Adam’s arms. He feels her heart beating and hears her whisper, “I love you, I love you, I love you.” Her tears against his cheek make the reunion a bodily reassurance as well as a spoken one. Yet Emma does not leave their future at the level of feeling. She tells him, “Darling, if we want Father Martin to marry us—and if you’re happy, I’d rather like that—we’d better set a date quickly or he may say he’s too old to travel. Will you write to him or shall I?”

Adam answers, “Neither. We’ll go to see him together. Tomorrow.” The exchange converts a long-feared possibility of loss into a mutual plan: Emma proposes setting the date, asks how they will contact the priest, and joins Adam in deciding to visit him. As Adam holds her, Kate hears his exultant laugh from the rear entrance of the house. Emma’s arrival therefore closes their period of uncertainty not with a wedding already completed, but with a clear decision to marry and an immediate step toward arranging it.