Marvin was happier than he had ever been, for a great absorption is one of Heaven's kindest gifts.
For Barebone, France and his quest there, the Marquis de Gemosac, Dormer Colville, Juliette, lapsed into a sort of dream, while Farlingford remained a quiet reality.

Loo had not written to Dormer Colville.
Captain Clubbe was trading between Alexandria and Bristol.

"The Last Hope" was not to be expected in England before April.

To communicate with Colville would be to turn that past dream, not wholly pleasant, into a grim reality.

Loo therefore put off from day to day the evil moment.