The maze challenge

An original fiction passage set in the nineteenth century.

Harriet gathered up her skirts at the eastern entrance to the maze. Across the lawn, Julian waited beneath the western arch, tapping one polished boot against the gravel. The sundial at the centre was their prize. “Try not to arrive tomorrow,” he called. Harriet answered by stepping into the green passage before the signal was given. At once, the high hedges swallowed them, and each hurried towards the centre with only the sound of the other’s footsteps for company.

Their first calls through the leaves were instructions disguised as insults. “You have passed that urn twice,” Harriet shouted. “Only because your directions are useless,” Julian replied. Then his footsteps stopped. After a silence, he admitted that every path appeared the same. Harriet looked at the three identical openings before her and confessed that she, too, was lost. Julian began calling steadily while Harriet followed his voice. When they met at a narrow crossing, he tested each turning and she scratched an arrow in the earth behind them. They reached the sundial side by side. Neither claimed the prize; instead, they sat together in its small circle of shade.

Analyse the writer’s use of language and structure in presenting Harriet and Julian’s changing relationship. Support your answer with references to the passage.