all that I have to say to you, I prefer to say here. I never promised
to marry you. You have always chosen to take it for granted, and I have
let you speak of it because I was indifferent, because I have never
chosen to think of such matters, because my thoughts have been wholly,
wholly dedicated to the greatest cause in the world. To-night you have
forced yourself upon me. You have done yourself harm, not good. You
have surprised the truth in my heart. It is clear to me that I--cannot
marry you; I never could. I shall not change. Now let us go back to
our work hand in hand, if you will, but that other matter is closed
between us forever."

She turned to say farewell to Maraton, but Graveling interposed himself
between them. His voice shook and there were evil things in his
distorted face.

"To-night, for the first time," he exclaimed hoarsely, "you speak in
this fashion! Before, even if you were indifferent, marriage at least
seemed possible to you. To-night you say that the truth has come to
you. You look at me with different eyes. You draw back. You begin to
feel, to understand. You are a woman to-night! Why? Answer me that!
Why? Why to-night? Why not before? Why is it that to-night you have
awakened? I will know! Look at me."

She was taken unawares, assailed suddenly, not only by his words but by
those curious new sensations, her own, yet unfamiliar to her. It was
civil war. A part of herself was in league with her accuser. She felt
the blushes stain her cheeks. She looked imploringly at Maraton for
help. He smiled at her reassuringly, delightfully.

"Children," he expostulated, "this is absurd! Off with you to your
homes. These are small matters of which you speak."

His hands were courteously laid upon both of them. He led them to the
door and pointed eastwards through the darkness.

"Think of the morning. Think of the human beings who wake in a few
hours, only to bend their bodies once more to the yoke. The other
things are but trifles."

She looked back at him from the corner of the Square, a straight,
impassive figure in a little halo of soft light. There was a catch in
her heart. Her companion's words were surely spoken in some foreign
tongue.

"We have got to have this out, Julia," he was saying. "If anybody or
anything has come between us, there's going to be trouble. If that's
the great Maraton, with his swagger evening clothes and big house, well,
he's not the man for our job, and I shan't mind