By way of the window, Shvigovsky managed to tell me of

'What kind of life will that be?"

"Surely we shall meet again. Love is too wonderful and mysterious a thing to remain uncompleted."

She gave a slight shiver, and turned away from him. "This dream is untrue. Love is completed here."

"How can that be, when sooner or later it is brutally interrupted by Fate?"

"It is completed by anguish.. .. Oh, why must it always be enjoyment for us? Can't we suffer - can't we go on suffering, forever and ever? Maskull, until love crushes our spirit, finally and without remedy, we don't begin to feel ourselves."

Maskull gazed at her with a troubled expression. "Can the memory of love be worth more than its presence. and reality?"

"You don't understand. Those pangs are more precious than all the rest beside." She caught at him. "Oh, if you could only see inside my mind, Maskull! You would see strange things.... I can't explain. It is all confused, even to myself.... This love is quite different from what I thought."

He sighed again. "Love is a strong drink. Perhaps it is too strong for human beings. And I think that it overtures our reason in different ways."