He looked at her without appearing to see her; he propped his elbow on her knee, leant his chin in his palm, and went on talking about the Islands. 'I know that I am making the thing into a religion, but then I could never live, simply drifting along. Aimless.... I don't understand existence on those terms. I am quite prepared to give everything for my idea; father can disinherit me, and I know I am very likely to be killed. I don't care. I may be mistaken; I may be making a blunder, an error of judgment. I don't care. Those people are mine. Those Islands are my faith. I am blind.' 'And you enjoy the adventure,' she said. 'Of course, I enjoy the adventure. But there is more in it than that,' he said, shaking his head; 'there is conviction, burnt into me. Fanatical. Whoever is ready to pay the ultimate price for his belief, has a right to that belief. Heaven preserve me,' he cried, showing his fist, 'from growing like father, or Malteios, or Stavridis. Eve, you understand.' She murmured again,-- 'And what am I? What part have I got in this world of yours?' Again he did not appear to hear her, but making an effort to get up, he said,-- 'I promised to meet Tsantilas, and I must go,' but she pressed her hands on his shoulders and held him down. 'Stay a little longer. I want to talk to you.' Kneeling there, he saw at last that her mouth was very resolute and her eyes full of a desperate decision. She sat forward in her chair, so close to him that he felt the warmth of her body, and saw that at the base of her throat a little pulse was beating quickly. 'What is it, Eve?' 'This,' she said, 'that if I let you go I may never see you again. How much time have you?' He glanced at the heavy clock between the lapis columns. 'An hour and a half.' 'Give me half an hour.' 'Do you want to stop me from going?' 'Could I stop you if I tried?' 'I should never listen to you.' 'Julian,' she said, 'I rarely boast, as you know, but I am wondering now how many people in Herakleion would abandon their dearest ideals for me? If you think my boast is empty--remember Paul.' He paused for a moment, genuinely surprised by the point of view she presented to him. 'But I am different,' he said then, quite simply and with an air of finality. She laughed a low, delighted laugh. 'You have said it: you are different. Of course you are different. So different, that you never notice me. People cringe to me--oh, I may say this to you--but you, Julian, either you are angry with me or else you forget me.' She looked at the clock, and for the first time a slight loss of self-assurance came over her, surprising and attractive in her, who seemed always to hold every situation in such contemptuous control. 'Only half an hour,' she said, 'and I have to say to you all that which I have been at such pains to conceal--hoping all the while that you would force the gates of my concealment, trample on my hypocrisy!'