a man looked at a girl's body and saw that it was
desirable, and that was the end of the story. But you could not have pure
love or pure lust nowadays. No emotion was pure, because everything was
mixed up with fear and hatred. Their embrace had been a battle, the climax
a victory. It was a blow struck against the Party. It was a political act.



III

'We can come here once again,' said Julia. 'It's generally safe to use
any hide-out twice. But not for another month or two, of course.'
As soon as she woke up her demeanour had changed. She became alert and
business-like, put her clothes on, knotted the scarlet sash about her
waist, and began arranging the details of the journey home. It seemed
natural to leave this to her. She obviously had a practical cunning which
Winston lacked, and she seemed also to have an exhaustive knowledge of the
countryside round London, stored away from innumerable community hikes. The
route she gave him was quite different from the one by which he had come,
and brought him out at a different railway station. 'Never go home the same
way as you went out,' she said, as though enunciating an important general
principle. She would leave first, and Winston was to wait half an hour
before following her.
She had named a place where they could meet after work, four evenings
hence. It was a street in one of the poorer quarters, where there was an
open market which was generally crowded and noisy. She would be hanging
about among the stalls, pretending to be in search of shoelaces or sewing-
thread. If she judged that the coast was clear she would blow her nose when
he approached; otherwise he was to walk past her without recognition. But
with luck, in the middle of the crowd, it would be safe to talk for a
quarter of an hour and arrange another meeting.
'And now I must go,' she said as soon as he had mastered his
instructions. 'I'm due ba