midday
Notwithstanding this , there was a boat there and a boatman . In the boat was a travelling bag . The boatman seemed to be waiting for some one . The _ Cashmere _ was visible at anchor in roads , as she did not start till midday ; there was as yet no sign of moving aboard . A passer-by , who had listened from one of the ladder-paths up the cliffs overhead , would have heard a murmur of words in the Havelet , and if he had leaned over the overhanging cliff might have seen , at some distance from the boat , in a corner among the rocks and branches , where the eye of the boatman could not reach them , a man and a woman . It was Caudray and Déruchette . These obscure nooks on the seashore , the chosen places of lady bathers , are not always so solitary as is believed .