England — it had living thoughts to unfold even then, and pure happiness in unfolding them. And now, we can only fish among the rubbish heaps for the remnants of their old expression. There is no production in us now, only sordid and foul mechanicalness.’

‘It isn’t true,’ cried Ursula. ‘Why must you always praise the past, at the expense of the present? REALLY, I don’t think so much of Jane Austen’s England. It was materialistic enough, if you like — ’

‘It could afford to be materialistic,’ said Birkin, ‘because it had the power to be something other — which we haven’t. We are materialistic because we haven’t the power to be anything else — try as we may, we can’t bring off anything