Sir Ambrose cared for Elizabeth when she was a child; the novel never mentions her father. He was a portrait painter of some repute and owned a large house on Guernsey. He brought Elizabeth and her mother, who was a servant, to the island with him in the summers. He later sent Elizabeth to the Slade School of Art and at the start of the war, he asked Elizabeth to close up his house on Guernsey. He dies in a bombing raid in London and leaves his estate to Elizabeth.