A tale of true romance that skipped a decade after a love letter went astray has ended happily ever after with the couple getting married.

Steve Smith and Carmen Ruiz-Perez first met 17 years ago in Devon when they were both in their twenties and Ms Ruiz-Perez was a foreign student. They fell in love and became engaged but after a year-long relationship they drifted apart when she moved to Paris to run a shop.

A few years later Mr Smith tracked down her mother’s address in Spain and wrote her a letter in the hope of rekindling their romance. Ms Ruiz-Perez’s mother put the letter on the mantelpiece, from where it slipped down the back of the fireplace and remained unopened for the next ten years.

In literature, and in particular the novels of Thomas Hardy — also set in the West Country — such a mishap would have been the cause of years of unhappiness, the lovers marrying the wrong person and at least one of them suffering a tragic and untimely death.

But for the real-life couple, fate took a more down-to-earth hand when the fireplace was removed for renovations. Ms Ruiz-Perez, who had remained single, was given the letter and rang the phone number that Mr Smith had written on the note. They met up in Paris a few days later, rediscovered their old love and married last week.

Mr Smith, 42, a factory supervisor from Paignton, said: “When we met again it was like a film. We ran across the airport into each other’s arms. We met up and fell in love all over again. Within 30 seconds of setting eyes on each other we were kissing. I’m just glad the letter did eventually end up where it was supposed to be.”

Ms Ruiz-Perez, 42, said: “I never got married and now I’m marrying the man I have always loved. When I got the letter I didn’t phone Steve right away because I was so nervous. I nearly didn’t phone him at all. I kept picking up the phone then putting it down again. But I knew I had to make the call.”

At least she had the sense not to write. Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles depicts a darker version of what happens when letters get lost. Tess’s missive to Angel confessing her past slips under the carpet, so that he marries her in ignorance, with tragic results.

Another Hardy novel, Far from the Madding Crowd, shows the consequences of misunderstood communications. As a joke Bathsheba sends William Boldwood a Valentine’s card with the words “marry me”. He takes her seriously and embarks on a courtship that leads ultimately to tragedy.

While Shakespeare was a fervent believer in the use of letters to advance his plots, it was a verbal message that led to one of his greatest misunderstandings. When Juliet takes the potion that renders her apparently dead, Friar Laurence is meant to send a messenger to Romeo telling him what has happened. The messenger, of course, never arrives.

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