“No, no–I only should have had more time. I want another go.”
“Another go?”
“I want an extension.”
“An extension?” Again Doctor Hugh repeated Dencombe’s words, with which he seemed to have been struck. “Don’t you know? I want to what they call ‘live.’ ”
The young man, for good-bye, had taken his hand, which closed with a certain force. They looked at each other hard a
moment. “You will live,” said Doctor Hugh.
-James, “The Middle Years,” p. 348
I thought this was a very pivotal moment in the story, as Dencombe finally admits out loud that he is unsatisfied with his end (something he had been internally struggling with during the whole story), but yet this vulnerability allows for a beautiful friendship to grow.