THE SEA LADY
things away with that dim gesture. "Of course," he said, "I shall go back.
"It is not my fault," he insisted, "that this trouble, this separation, has ever arisen. I was moody, I was preoccupied, I know—things had got into my head. But if I'd been left alone. . . .
"I have been forced into this position," he summarised.
"You understand," said Melville, "that—though I think matters are indefined and distressing just now—I don't attach blame—anywhere."
"You're open-minded," said Chatteris. "That's just your way. And I can imagine how all this upset and discomfort distresses you. You're awfully good to keep so open-minded and not to consider me an utter outcast, an ill-regulated disturber of the order of the world."
"It's a distressing state of affairs," said Melville. "But perhaps I understand
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