Ever since Gavin has been a baby, he has seen the same woman appear at various moments of his life. She appears to speak, but there is no sound. When Gavin was playing at his friend Toby's house, Gavin saw the woman outside and asked Toby who she was. Toby didn't bother to look, and said she was the gardener. When Gavin goes to university, he falls in love with a deaf girl named Irene Gilbey. He decides to approach her, and as he does, he expects to see the woman there, since she has been there at all the pivotal moments of his life. Sure enough, he sees her nearby.