Ariadne was my stumbling block. It was so strange coming up against someone who didn’t fold the moment I set eyes on them. It wouldn’t take a genius to deduce that I have pursued her for so long for the simple reason that she didn’t cave in. I don’t know if I pushed aside others more deserving and more compatible because I can innately sense that she is right for me, or because I couldn’t bear the dent to my ego if I didn’t win this battle of wills. Whatever the reason, I now have victory in my grasp, quite literally–my triumph typed onto the piece of paper that Harvey left for me. I find it all so strange. I met my match in Ariadne, for all the power I thought I possessed. For all my looks and strength and wiles I had no answer to her, and yet a paunchy, non-descript man in his fifties c
