Julian has performed his self-cleansing - at least for now. Now he has what he perceives to be the chance he never had with Laura presenting itself to him. Oh, Julian. You who scorn the world so already, will only learn to scorn it more by the end of your tale.
The cruelest hope to rob a man of, is the hope he has after he's already had it taken before. The first wounds we remember with the most clarity - the second, third, eighth, twentieth times begin to bleed together and we begin to lose count of which time is it this time - the fifth or the seventh? The third or the thirtieth?
'The second hope denied is the last hope denied.'
