Complex sentence: Returning to 1809, we learn that the duel never occurred; instead, the Chaters left for the West Indies with Captain Brice, Mr. Chater as the expedition's botanist and Mrs. Chater as the captain's secret paramour.
Split into simpler sentences: Returning to 1809, we learn that the duel never occurred. Instead, the Chaters left for the West Indies with Captain Brice, Mr. Chater as the expedition's botanist and Mrs. Chater as the captain's secret paramour.