Chapter 12 Summary and Analysis

James Herriot and Helen Alderson finally break through the obstacles of time and circumstance to connect with each other, as he makes a house call to help expedite a bitch's stalled whelping.

They encounter each other once again at the Daffodil Ball, one of the social "musts" for young singles in the Darrowby area. Herriot arrives with a group of young men and women in a party and enjoys the conviviality, as well as dancing with the voluptuous Daphne. Tristan takes his usual place in the bar, preferring beer to dancing. In the din of the big band booming and the fog of cigarette smoke, he makes out Helen arriving with his bete noir, Edmundson.

Herriot gets a phone call from Mrs. Hall and decides he has to leave the party. On his way out, he encounters Helen, who tells him...