‘No difference — and all the difference. Dissolution rolls on, just as production does,’ he said. ‘It is a progressive process — and it ends in universal nothing — the end of the world, if you like. But why isn’t the end of the world as good as the beginning?’

‘I suppose it isn’t,’ said Ursula, rather angry.

‘Oh yes, ultimately,’ he said. ‘It means a new cycle of creation after — but not for us. If it is the end, then we are of the end — fleurs du mal if you like. If we are fleurs du mal, we are not roses of happiness, and there you are.’

‘But I think I am,’ said Ursula. ‘I think I am a rose of happiness.’