said Ursula. ‘Mother will be back soon, and she’ll be disappointed if you’re not in bed.’

The children, in a sudden angelic mood, retired without a word. Birkin and Ursula went into the drawing-room.

The fire burned low. He looked at her and wondered at the luminous delicacy of her beauty, and the wide shining of her eyes. He watched from a distance, with wonder in his heart, she seemed transfigured with light.

‘What have you been doing all day?’ he asked her.

‘Only sitting about,’ she said.

He looked at her. There was a change in her. But she was separate from him. She remained apart, in a kind of brightness. They both sat silent in the