When she discovered what that "great trouble" had been she would secure an important clue in the mystery, she was sure.

Nora might some time be induced to speak more freely, and it was possible she might get the desired information from Old Hucks.

She would try, anyway.
A dozen theories might be constructed to account for this "great trouble." The one that Louise finally favored was that Captain Wegg had been guilty of some crime on the high seas in which his boatswain, Old Hucks, was likewise implicated.

They were obliged to abandon the sea and fly to some out-of-the-way corner inland, where they could be safely hidden and their whereabouts never discovered.

It was the knowledge of this crime, she conjectured, that had ruined sweet Mrs.Wegg's life and made her weep day after day until her guilty husband became surly and silent and unsociable.
Louise now began to cultivate Thomas, but her progress was slow.