...about your address from Eric. I'll send it now to Hampstead. I am glad you think well of The Rover. I have wanted for a long time to do a seaman's "return"...book came out, I was too seedy to care. I had about 10 weeks of a pretty bad time. My recovery was swift, — but my confidence has been badly shaken....

...enormous shadow of Porquerolles Island darkening more than half of its width at this still early hour. "I have wanted for a long time to do a seaman's return before my own departure," as Conrad wrote to Galsworthy shortly before his death (Oswalds, 22 February 1924). Peyrol, his Rover,...

...in his previous work. Conrad spoke of The Rover in terms that suggest its special importance to him: "I have wanted for a long time to do a seaman's 'return' (before my own departure)." Peyrol's desire in his final voyage to merge his destiny with that of his nation may reflect Conrad's...

...aged Conrad; as he writes to Galsworthy on 22 February 1924: 'I am glad you think well of The Rover. I have wanted for a long time to do a seaman's "return" (before my own departure).' He goes on to talk about Suspense, and mentions that in his view 'The Rover is a mere "interlude".'43...