Winston says he has not betrayed Julia

After weeping, Winston says, 'I have not betrayed Julia.' O'Brien acknowledges that this is perfectly true in the sense Winston means: he has stopped loving her? No, he has not stopped loving her; his feelings toward her have remained the same. O'Brien has seen what he means without explanation. Winston asks how soon they will shoot him. O'Brien says it might be a long time, but that in the end, when he is cured, they will shoot him. The exchange gives Winston a flicker of the old reverence for O'Brien's intelligence.