"If it comes to that," he said slowly, "no gossip is exactly edifying.

And to be the victim of it is to be in the most undesirable position under the sun." It struck Merefleet that he uttered the words with some force, almost with the deliberate intention of conveying a warning; and, being the last man in the world to attempt to fathom the wholly irrelevant affairs of his neighbour, he dropped into silence and began to smoke.
Seton sat motionless for some time.

The murmur of a conversation that was being sleepily sustained by two men in the room behind them created no disturbing influence.

Presently Seton spoke casually, but with that in his tone which made Merefleet vaguely conscious of an element of suspicion.
"You didn't expect to see me just now, did you ?" he asked.
"No," said Merefleet.

"I should have taken the trouble to call your name to mind before I spoke if I had." Seton nodded.