"I am a thief, a hunted man."
"So that is what separated us! Oh, Hoddy, you have wasted so many wonderful days! Why didn't you tell me?"
"I couldn't!" He made as though to draw away, but her arms became hoops of steel.
"Because you did not wish to hurt me?"
"Yes. If I let you believe I did not love you, and they found me, your shame would be negligible."
"And loving me, you fought me, avoided all my traps! I'm glad I've been so unhappy. Remember, in your story—look at it, scattered everywhere!—that line? We arrive at true happiness only through labyrinths of misery."
"I am a thief, nevertheless."
"Oh, that!"
He raised his head, staring at her in blank astonishment. "You mean, it doesn't matter?"
"Poor Hoddy! When you were ill in Canton, out of your head, you babbled words. Only a few, but enough for me to understand that some act had driven you to this part of the world, where the hunted hide."