Indeed, when I noticed that evening that her eyes were red with
weeping, and said a word about her husband's departure, she stared at
me for a moment in amazement, and could not guess how I came to hear
of it, 'for,' said she, 'the resolution had been so suddenly taken
that even she could scarce account for it.' She admitted, however,
that it was for the best, and added that 'Jack was a good seaman, and
she always expected that he would leave her some day.' Her chief
anxiety was for her little daughter, aged seven, whom it was hard to
have exposed to the rough language and manners of a public-house.
I comforted her as best I could, and doubt not she has found her
husband's absence a less misfortune than she anticipated.
"The _Golden Wave_ weighed anchor on the 6th of February, and reached
Bombay after a tedious voyage of 103 days, on the 21st of May, having
been detained by contrary winds in doubling the Cape. I saw little
of Simon Colliver before starting, though he came twice, as I heard,
to the 'Welcome Home' to inquire for me, and each time found me
absent.
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