i
- The Plunketts were planning a cruise, but life's intruded. Oh, life.
- Major Plunkett didn't really want to go anyway since he remembers the misery of his last trip to England.
- He was unnerved by the voices—presumably the accents—he had heard around him then.
ii
- He also found that he couldn't "speak properly" anymore. Everything came out like an order, like he was still in the service, and the low-key calmness of English voices drove him crazy.
- Plunkett found that he missed the extremes of the island: its loudness, the tempests, the chatty flora.
iii
- Something is wrong with Maud: She is sleeping (or trying to) through afternoons, surrounded by cushions.
- She's wondering just when death will come for her, but isn't ready or willing to go yet.
- We learn—surprise!—that she prefers her gardens to Plunkett's empires.