he was in some mysterious way odious and unlovable. It was cruelly
true--_to her_. The oracle of so many years had spoken finally. Only
other people did not find her out at once.--I would not go so far as to
say she believed it altogether. That would be hardly possible. But
then haven't the most flattered, the most conceited of us their moments
of doubt? Haven't they? Well, I don't know. There may be lucky beings
in this world unable to believe any evil of themselves. For my own part
I'll tell you that once, many years ago now, it came to my knowledge
that a fellow I had been mixed up with in a certain transaction--a
clever fellow whom I really despised--was going around telling people
that I was a consummate hypocrite. He could know nothing of it. It
suited his humour to say so. I had given him no ground for that
particular calumny. Yet to this day there are moments when it comes
into my mind, and involuntarily I ask myself, `What if it were true?'
It's absurd, but it has on one or two occasions nearly affected my
conduct. And yet I was not an impressionable ignorant young girl. I
had taken the exact measure of the fellow's utter worthlessness long
before. He had never been for me a person of prestige and power, like
that awful governess to Flora de Barral. See the might of suggestion?
We live at the mercy of a malevolent word. A sound, a mere disturbance
of the air, sinks into our very soul sometimes. Flora de Barral had
been more astounded than convinced by the first impetuosity of Roderick
Anthony. She let herself be carried along by a mysterious force which
her person had called into being, as her father had been carried away
out of his depth by the unexpected power of successful advertising.

"They went on board that morning. The _Ferndale_ had just come to her
loading berth. The only living creature on board was the ship-keeper--
whether the same who, had been described to us by Mr Powell, or
another, I don't know. Possibly some other man. He, looking over the
side, saw, in his own words, `the captain come sailing round the corner
of the nearest cargo-shed, in company with a girl.' He lowered the
accommodation ladder down on to the jetty..."

"How do you know all this?" I interrupted.

Marlow interjected an impatient:

"You shall see by and by... Flora went up first, got down on deck and
stood stock-still till the captain took her by the arm and led her aft.
The ship-keeper let them