“I didn't let you.”
“But I should have. That situation was the same as this, only then we hadn't crossed our Rubicon. Now w e have. Don't you see? This situation has followed that, inevitably. And now we no longer have the power to choose. We've got to go on, at least as far as Ping Yang. But we mustn't be together...”
She glanced at him, then away.
“—no, not even like this. We have no right to indulge our moods. I'm going to be really honest now. We're in danger from these natives, yes. But that's a small thing.”
She moved a hand. “Of course...” she murmured.
“The real danger is to you. And from me. Oh, my God, child, you're in danger from me!” He covered his face with his hands; then, after a moment, steadied himself, and rose. “I can't stay here and talk with you like this. I can't even help you. Already I've injured your name beyond repair.”
She broke in here with a low-voiced remark the mature character of which he did not, in his self-absorption, catch. “I don't believe you know modern girls very well.”
He went on: “So you see, I've hurt you, and now, when you need me most—oh, I know that!—I'm fading you. It's been a terrible mistake. But it's my job to get you to Ping Yang. That's all. No good talking. I'll go now'.”
“I wish you wouldn't.”
“I must. I—there we are! I'm failing you, that's all.”