adding to cliff's burdens, halley leaves for london, where lester is offering her a producing job; when she returns several months later, cliff is astounded to discover that she and lester are engaged. hearing that lester sent halley white roses "round the clock, for days" while they were in london, cliff is crestfallen as he realizes he is incapable of that kind of ostentatious display. his last romantic gesture to halley had been a love letter which he had mostly plagiarized from james joyce.