We understand from the passage that Colonel Sherrington ……………

While Timothy listened to the music coming from the radio, he saw himself as a child again. The picture was quite clear in his mind: he was running through a wood carrying a bag of stolen apples. He had run straight into Colonel Sherrington, who was, at that time, the owner of the land on which the fruit had grown. Calm and almost cheerful the Colonel had taken him back to his house when he discovered his own apples in Timothy's bag. They had arrived at the house towards dusk, and he entered, the young boy had heard the most exquisite piano music being played by a beautiful girl. That girl was now his wife, but the tune had remained his secret love ever since.