1984

           ‘Youareveryyoung,’hesaid. ‘YouaretenorfifteenyearsyoungerthanIam. Whatcouldyouseetoattractyouinamanlikeme?’ 

           ‘Itwassomethinginyourface. IthoughtI’dtakeachance. I’mgoodatspottingpeoplewhodon’tbelong. AssoonasIsawyouIknewyouwereagainstTHEM.’ 

           THEM,itappeared,meanttheParty,andabovealltheInnerParty,aboutwhomshetalkedwithanopenjeeringhatredwhichmadeWinstonfeeluneasy,althoughheknewthattheyweresafehereiftheycouldbesafeanywhere. Athingthatastonishedhimaboutherwasthecoarsenessofherlanguage. Partymembersweresupposednottoswear,andWinstonhimselfveryseldomdidswear,aloud,atanyrate. Julia,however,seemedunabletomentiontheParty,andespeciallytheInnerParty,withoutusingthekindofwordsthatyousawchalkedupindrippingalley-ways. Hedidnotdislikeit. ItwasmerelyonesymptomofherrevoltagainstthePartyandallitsways,andsomehowitseemednaturalandhealthy,likethesneezeofahorsethatsmellsbadhay. Theyhadlefttheclearingandwerewanderingagainthroughthechequeredshade,withtheirarmsroundeachother’swaistswheneveritwaswideenoughtowalktwoabreast. Henoticedhowmuchsofterherwaistseemedtofeelnowthatthesashwasgone. Theydidnotspeakaboveawhisper. Outsidetheclearing,Juliasaid,itwasbettertogoquietly. Presentlytheyhadreachedtheedgeofthelittlewood.Shestoppedhim. 

           ‘Don’tgooutintotheopen. Theremightbesomeonewatching. We’reallrightifwekeepbehindtheboughs.’ 

           Theywerestandingintheshadeofhazelbushes. Thesunlight,filteringthroughinnumerableleaves,wasstillhotontheirfaces.