Then he had inquired, and a female fellow-passenger had informed him that she was a Mrs.Smith,--that she had seen better days, but had been married to a ne'er-do-well husband, who had drank himself to death within a year of their marriage, and that she was now going out to the colony, probably,--so the old lady said who was the informant,--in search of a second husband.

She was to some extent, the old lady said, in charge of a distant relative, who was then on board, with a respectable husband and children, and who was very much ashamed of her poor connection.

So much John Caldigate had heard.
Though he had heard this he did not feel inclined to tell it all to Dick Shand.

Dick had professed his intention of unravelling the mystery, but Caldigate almost thought that he would like to unravel it himself.

The woman was so constantly alone! And then, though she was ill-dressed, untidy, almost unkempt on occasions, still, through it all, there was something attractive about her.