He had returned to land, nervous and uneasy.

His uneasiness made him fear this interview while at the same time he wished it.
"Out with it! I am not a child to feel such fears," he said to himself upon entering his room and finding Freya awaiting him.
He spoke to her with the brusqueness of one who wishes to conclude everything quickly....

"I could not undertake the service that the doctor asked.

I take back my word.

The mate on board would not consent to it." Her wrath burst forth without any finesse, with the frankness of intimacy.