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"She had managed to tell me that she was writing under duress. She had also managed to convey her destination. "Snow and ice" to which she had drawn attention, patently meant Venice. The Italian for "snow" is "neve," and together with the reference to "Italian words," the anagram was obvious. And in "topsy- turvy" language a little place in the mountains clearly meant a large place by the sea."

Bradley makes this statement at the end of Part Three after reading Julian's letter. It captures Bradley's delusion about his current state of affairs. While it is possible that Julian could still be in love with him, the tone of her letter specifically makes it clear that she is not. As she describes in length, she feels so confused about their relationship that she flees from the seaside cottage and cannot write for some time. Furthermore, she expresses no desire to see him again soon. Despite the clearness of Julian's words and actions, Bradley's desperation leads him to misinterpret the letter. In this quote, he even describes how he determined that Julian wrote the letter in secret code so that he would understand where she is. Bradley obviously is mistaken and no longer acting sensibly, as his own description indicates.

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