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Woolf, Virginia, 1882-1941

"The Voyage Out"

"Now you'll go
back and start all kinds of things and make a great name in the world;
and we'll go on being friends, whatever happens . . . we'll be great
friends, won't we?"
"Evelyn!" he moaned suddenly, and took her in his arms, and kissed her.
She did not resent it, although it made little impression on her.
As she sat upright again, she said, "I never see why one shouldn't go
on being friends--though some people do. And friendships do make a
difference, don't they? They are the kind of things that matter in one's
life?"
He looked at her with a bewildered expression as if he did not really
understand what she was saying. With a considerable effort he collected
himself, stood up, and said, "Now I think I have told you what I feel,
and I will only add that I can wait as long as ever you wish."
Left alone, Evelyn walked up and down the path. What did matter than?
What was the meaning of it all?


Chapter XXVII

All that evening the clouds gathered, until they closed entirely over
the blue of the sky. They seemed to narrow the space between earth and
heaven, so that there was no room for the air to move in freely; and
the waves, too, lay flat, and yet rigid, as if they were restrained. The
leaves on the bushes and trees in the garden hung closely together,
and the feeling of pressure and restraint was increased by the short
chirping sounds which came from birds and insects.


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