'The cold was exhausting Firmin. He looked around for another shelter. A woman in a nearby house saw him shuffling past. She was so flooded with compassion that the frost ferns covering her window panes melted instantly. She handed Firmin a bowl of hot broth and hurried back inside. Tears rolled down his cheeks and dripped into the fatty broth.'

What calamity caused Firmin to scour the streets of Veurne in search of shelter? Was it his own fault? And how did he react when he was suddenly confronted with Odette, someone from his distant past?