That cloak and bonnet are meant to convey to the rest of the passengers the fact that there is no occasion whatever for a person of her importance to attend to such petty matters as dress.
"She never mentions her husband's name without saying, 'My husband, the Resident,' but for all that she is a kind hearted woman--a very kind hearted woman.

I pulled a child of hers through who was down with fever at Bhurtpore; he had a very close shave of it, and she has never forgotten it.

She greeted me when she came on board almost with tears in her eyes at the thought of that time.

I told her I had a young lady under my charge, and she said that she would be very pleased to do anything she could for you.

She is a stanch friend is Mrs.Resident, and you will find her useful before you get to the end of the voyage." The lady received Isobel with genuine kindness, and took her very much under her wing during the voyage, and Isobel received no small advantage from her advice and protection.
Her own good sense, however, and the earnest life she had led at school and with her brother at home, would have sufficed her even without this guardianship and that of the Doctor.