Blix had steadied him, and a certain earnestness and seriousness of purpose, a certain STRENGTH he had not known before, came swiftly into being.
Was Blix to go away, leave him, perhaps for all time, and not know how much he cared?
Would he speak before she went?
Condy did not know.

It was a question that circumstances would help him to decide.

He would not speak, so he resolved, unless he was sure that she cared herself; and if she did, she herself would give him a cue, a hint whereon to speak.

But days went by, the time set for Blix's departure drew nearer and nearer, and yet she gave him not the slightest sign.
These two interests had now absorbed his entire life for the moment--his love for Blix, and his novel.

Little by little "In Defiance of Authority" took shape.