He intended that the apparent misunderstanding about the wicker chair should have been but a thing of the moment, quickly past and forgotten.

Adela fancied that if they could only meet for one brief half-hour face to face, without the restraint of that foreign presence, all misunderstanding would be at an end between them, and John Saltram's affection for her, in which she believed with a fond credulity, would reveal itself in all its truth and fulness.

And all this misunderstanding has largely been the work of gossip acting upon ignorance.

And he adds: "If the Government of the United States does not give this assurance we shall be obliged to think that this misunderstanding is not the result of an error."