Cynthia Denison And Spaceships

Poul Anderson's first Time Patrol story, "Time Patrol," is set in 1954 and refers to:

"...a collection of Victorian and Edwardian stories." (3, p. 18)

The second story, "Brave To Be A King," is set in the mid-twentieth century and refers to:

"...the lost narratives of Dr. Watson." (1, p. 55)

Same difference, says you. Or does Everard, as a Time Patrolman, have access to "lost narratives" that Watson never published?

When Cynthia Denison visits:

"...it was as if he were aboard some early spaceship that had just entered free fall; he stood weightless and helpless in a blaze of stars." (ibid.)

A reference to spaceships is an sf staple:

Everard knows that he is in a timeline where regular space travel will begin soon;

at the time when this story was published, many people, including the author and his readers, assumed that they also inhabited such a timeline;

since then we have had reason to doubt - space travel has not happened on the expected schedule and meanwhile what is happening on Earth?

(Sorry to ask awkward questions but we have to keep relating fiction to reality. And sf is about reality. Considering our place in the cosmos is realist, not escapist.)

In "Time Patrol," Mr. Gordon recruits Everard to the Patrol. In "Brave To Be A King," Mr. Gordon has shown Cynthia the analysis of a critical milieu. We are just settling into reading a series and are beginning to regard Mr. Gordon as part of the background. However, he is never referred to again. Everard as an Unattached agent does not need to refer to the local office, where Cynthia is a clerk.