In that way she might very well talk allegorically of herself as in alliance with Gurnard against Fox and Churchill.

I was at sea in that sort of thing--but I understood vaguely that something of the sort was remotely possible.
I didn't feel called upon to back out of it on that account, yet I very decidedly wished that the thing could have been otherwise.

For myself, I came into the matter with clean hands--and I was going to keep my hands clean; otherwise, I was at Fox's disposal.
"I understand," I said, the speech marking my decision, "I shall have dealings with a good many of the proprietors--I am the scratcher, in fact, and you don't want me to make a fool of myself." "Well," he answered, gauging me with his blue, gimlet eyes, "it's just as well to know." "It's just as well to know," I echoed.

It _was_ just as well to know..