Neither of them would be likely to bring their troubles to such a good prophet of evil.
Yes.

That must have been her motive.

The inspiration of a possibly unconscious Machiavellism! Either she was afraid of having a sister-in- law to look after during the husband's long absences; or dreaded the more or less distant eventuality of her brother being persuaded to leave the sea, the friendly refuge of his unhappy youth, and to settle on shore, bringing to her very door this undesirable, this embarrassing connection.
She wanted to be done with it--maybe simply from the fatigue of continuous effort in good or evil, which, in the bulk of common mortals, accounts for so many surprising inconsistencies of conduct.
I don't know that I had classed Mrs.Fyne, in my thoughts, amongst common mortals.

She was too quietly sure of herself for that.

But little Fyne, as I spied him next morning (out of the carriage window) speeding along the platform, looked very much like a common, flustered mortal who has made a very near thing of catching his train: the starting wild eyes, the tense and excited face, the distracted gait, all the common symptoms were there, rendered more impressive by his native solemnity which flapped about him like a disordered garment.