1984 - Planet eBook

‘Victory Square, near the monument.’‘It’s full of telescreens.’‘It doesn’t matter if there’s a crowd.’‘Any signal?’‘No. Don’t come up to me until you see me among a lotof people. And don’t look at me. Just keep somewhere nearme.’‘What time?’‘Nineteen hours.’‘All right.’Ampleforth failed to see Winston and sat down at anothertable. They did not speak again, and, so far as it waspossible for two people sitting on opposite sides of the sametable, they did not look at one another. The girl finished herlunch quickly and made off, while Winston stayed to smokea cigarette.Winston was in Victory Square before the appointedtime. He wandered round the base of the enormous flutedcolumn, at the top of which Big Brother’s statue gazedsouthward towards the skies where he had vanquished theEurasian aeroplanes (the Eastasian aeroplanes, it had been,a few years ago) in the Battle of Airstrip One. In the streetin front of it there was a statue of a man on horseback whichwas supposed to represent Oliver Cromwell. At five minutespast the hour the girl had still not appeared. Again the terriblefear seized upon Winston. She was not coming, shehad changed her mind! He walked slowly up to the northside of the square and got a sort of pale-coloured pleasurefrom identifying St Martin’s Church, whose bells, when it