A foreshadowing comment. Decoud, of course, does not return safe, and Nostromo
gets no official reward. It is significant that Mrs Gould and Antonia are the
ones making the promise, not Charles, who actually holds the pursestrings of the
material interests and who, we remember, does not like Decoud. It is also bitterly
revealing that the "gentlefolk" (including Mrs Gould!) should openly
place such a higher value on Decoud's life to Nostromo's very face.