In this part of the story, we see Cassandra and Zillah arriving Belfast and then making their way to Holywood. As we know, Zillah had recovered from an illness and so that's why she spent about a month in this place. Cassandra wasn't sure why Le Poer would bring them here given to her it was dreary but perhaps that was his intention. Either way, she recovered with ease and she was happier than she ever was. Cassandra belives that Zillah had never been this happy since childhood so this lets us know of the possiblity that she was unhappy for some time.

"Our brief voyage ended, we reached Belfast and proceeded to Holywood—a small sea-bathing village a few miles down the coast. To this day I have never found out why Mr Le Poer took the trouble to bring us all over the water and settle us there, as it was so dull and dreary that, to all intents and purposes, we might as well have been buried in the solitudes of the Desert of Sahara. But perhaps that was exactly what he wanted" (Craick, Sinah Mulock, The Half-Caste. pg. 63)