For he always kept such a keen attentiveness, concentrated and unyielding in himself. Now he had let go, imperceptibly he was melting into oneness with the whole. It was like pure, perfect sleep, his first great sleep of life. He had been so insistent, so guarded, all his life. But here was sleep, and peace, and perfect lapsing out.

‘Shall I row to the landing-stage?’ asked Gudrun wistfully.

‘Anywhere,’ he answered. ‘Let it drift.’

‘Tell me then, if we are running into anything,’ she replied, in that very quiet, toneless voice of sheer intimacy.

‘The lights will show,’ he said.

So they drifted almost motionless, in silence.