Clive was devoutly religious as a child, and consequently struggled with his orientation. When he first encountered Plato’s Phaedrus, he rejected Christianity for the classics: “He saw there his malady described exquisitely, calmly, as a passion which we can direct, like any other, towards good or bad” (70). Meeting Risley further bolstered his confidence, although he wasn't romantically interested in him.

Clive didn’t understand the extent of his feelings for Maurice until the first holiday he spent away from him: “The man was bourgeois, unfinished and stupid—the worst of confidants. Yet he told about his home troubles […] When Hall started teasing he was charmed” (71). He initially believed Maurice to be straight but began to reevaluate after noticing the challenging looks he sometimes gave Clive.

Maurice’s initial rejection therefore devastates Clive. Nevertheless, he continues to love Maurice, and on the morning Maurice climbs through his window, actually wakes calling his name. This time, he accepts Maurice’s declaration, and the two kiss before Maurice leaves.

Later the same morning, Clive and Maurice take the latter’s motorbike and side-car for a drive. As they leave campus, the Dean shouts at Maurice about skipping class, but Maurice ignores him: “They became a cloud of dust, a stench, and a roar to the world, but the air they breathed was pure, and all the noise they heard was the long drawn cheer of the wind” (76).