But the generosity of his new friends fills him with remorse about his treatment of Mona years earlier, and he instructs an inquiry agent to make sure she is not in need.

As the years pass Lois comes to detest the alcoholic Henry, and at the age of 16 she resolves to earn her own living with a view to rescuing her mother.

Henry blurts out her true parentage, and tells her the family is being spied on to ensure they make no trouble for Thewliss and his new wife.

The secret written plans for the process are stolen, and Lois is discovered red-handed trying to copy out the material in order to sell it on.

A solicitor hands Mona a letter from Thewliss saying that he has made provision for them in his will and quoting a line from Shakespeare, "Hereafter, in a better world than this, I shall desire more love and knowledge of you.

During their sailing holiday Thewliss and Mona give it a wide berth, an act that Mason uses as a metaphor for avoiding marriage.

Like Mark Thewliss, Mason was himself a member of parliament for a short period, and the harrowing experience of his maiden speech to the House on 15 November 1906 forms the basis for part of the narrative.

[9] Muriel was then aged 23, and her youthful presence made Mason – who was already over 60 – yearn for the child he had never had, and for the country house he had always dreamed of; but these remained out of reach.

[10] The ideas for the book had been developed by Mason for more than ten years, and first took shape in an unperformed play called The Mallet.

[11] Mason's biographer, Roger Lancelyn Green, suggested that the change to the "ruthlessly pessimistic" ending was the result of the author having written the final chapter at the very time that Muriel lay dying.

[8][13] E. V. Lucas, though, wrote privately that while he admired the novel's style and treatment, he could not believe that Lois would not have told Thewliss of her condition.