It was as if, during the voyage, a mysterious veil had been lifted, temporarily revealing a strange pantomime of the past.
During the evening he said to her casually: 'Is your step-father a cousin of your mother, dear Frances ?' 'Oh, no,' said she.

'There is no relationship.

He was only an old friend of hers.

Why did you suppose such a thing ?' He did not explain, and the next morning started to resume his duties at Ivell.
Cope was an honest young fellow, and shrewd withal.

At home in his quiet rooms in St.Peter's Street, Ivell, he pondered long and unpleasantly on the revelations of the cruise.