From the very beginning, he knows she's different: no ordinary shopgirl could be so well-versed in Shakespeare, so intelligent, so... captivating. Only gradually does he realize this vision from a foreign shore has actually come to him from a different time, and in his more hopeful moments he imagines she's come specifically for him. Whether heaven-sent or chance-met, he has no doubt she's transformed his life, restoring a joy and sense of purpose he'd thought never to feel again.