Women in Love

'Never mind,' he said. 'You shan't go on the launch.' Gudrun flushed quickly at his rebuke.

There were a few moments of silence. Gerald, like a sentinel, was

watching the people who were going on to the boat. He was very

good-looking and self-contained, but his air of soldierly alertness was

rather irritating.

'Will you have tea here then, or go across to the house, where there's

a tent on the lawn?' he asked.

'Can't we have a rowing boat, and get out?' asked Ursula, who was

always rushing in too fast.

'To get out?' smiled Gerald.

'You see,' cried Gudrun, flushing at Ursula's outspoken rudeness, 'we

don't know the people, we are almost COMPLETE strangers here.' 'Oh, I can soon set you up with a few acquaintances,' he said easily.

Gudrun looked at him, to see if it were ill-meant. Then she smiled at

him.

'Ah,' she said, 'you know what we mean. Can't we go up there, and

explore that coast?' She pointed to a grove on the hillock of the

meadow-side, near the shore half way down the lake. 'That looks

perfectly lovely. We might even bathe. Isn't it beautiful in this

light. Really, it's like one of the reaches of the Nile--as one

imagines the Nile.' Gerald smiled at her factitious enthusiasm for the distant spot.

'You're sure it's far enough off?' he asked ironically, adding at once:

'Yes, you might go there, if we could get a boat. They seem to be all

out.' He looked round the lake and counted the rowing boats on its surface.

'How lovely it would be!' cried Ursula wistfully.

'And don't you want tea?' he said.

'Oh,' said Gudrun, 'we could just drink a cup, and be off.' He looked from one to the other, smiling. He was somewhat offended--yet

sporting.

'Can you manage a boat pretty well?' he asked.

'Yes,' replied Gudrun, coldly, 'pretty well.' 'Oh yes,' cried Ursula. 'We can both of us row like water-spiders.' 'You can? There's light little canoe of mine, that I didn't take out

for fear somebody should drown themselves. Do you think you'd be safe

in that?' 'Oh perfectly,' said Gudrun.

'What an angel!' cried Ursula.

'Don't, for MY sake, have an accident--because I'm responsible for the

water.' 'Sure,' pledged Gudrun.

'Besides, we can both swim quite well,' said Ursula.

'Well--then I'll get them to put you up a tea-basket, and you can

picnic all to yourselves,--that's the idea, isn't it?' 'How fearfully good! How frightfully nice if you could!' cried Gudrun

warmly, her colour flushing up again. It made the blood stir in his

veins, the subtle way she turned to him and infused her gratitude into

his body.