أنا وحدي أعرف كيف أنعيه كما يستحق». لكن بينما كنا لا نزال نتصافح، ارتسمت على وجهها نظرةُ خرابٍ موحشة جعلتني أدرك أنها من أولئك الكائنات التي لا تكون ألعوبةً في يد الزمن. بالنسبة إليها كان قد مات بالأمس فقط. وبحقّ السماء، كان الانطباع قويًا إلى حدّ أنه بدا لي هو الآخر كأنه مات بالأمس، بل هذه اللحظة بالذات. رأيتها وإيّاه في اللحظة نفسها: موته وحزنها. رأيت حزنها في عين لحظة موته. أتفهم؟ رأيتهما معًا، وسمعتهما معًا.

“I -- I alone know how to mourn for him as he deserves.' But while we were still shaking hands, such a look of awful desolation came upon her face that I perceived she was one of those creatures that are not the playthings of Time. For her he had died only yesterday. And, by Jove! the impression was so powerful that for me, too, he seemed to have died only yesterday -- nay, this very minute. I saw her and him in the same instant of time -- his death and her sorrow -- I saw her sorrow in the very moment of his death. Do you understand? I saw them together -- I heard them together.”Joseph Conrad — Joseph Conrad Ultimate Collection: 18 Novels, 20+ Short Stories, Letters & Memoirs: Including Classics like Heart of Darkness, Lord Jim, The Duel, The Secret Agent, Nostromo, Victory, The Shadow-Line & Under Western Eyes (2015)