Women in Love

They went back to the house, to the Reunionsaal. She was curious to see

what was going on. The men there made her alert, roused her curiosity.

It was a new taste of life for her, they were so prostrate before her,

yet so full of life.

The party was boisterous; they were dancing all together, dancing the

Schuhplatteln, the Tyrolese dance of the clapping hands and tossing the

partner in the air at the crisis. The Germans were all proficient--they

were from Munich chiefly. Gerald also was quite passable. There were

three zithers twanging away in a corner. It was a scene of great

animation and confusion. The Professor was initiating Ursula into the

dance, stamping, clapping, and swinging her high, with amazing force

and zest. When the crisis came even Birkin was behaving manfully with

one of the Professor's fresh, strong daughters, who was exceedingly

happy. Everybody was dancing, there was the most boisterous turmoil.

Gudrun looked on with delight. The solid wooden floor resounded to the

knocking heels of the men, the air quivered with the clapping hands and

the zither music, there was a golden dust about the hanging lamps.

Suddenly the dance finished, Loerke and the students rushed out to

bring in drinks. There was an excited clamour of voices, a clinking of

mug-lids, a great crying of 'Prosit--Prosit!' Loerke was everywhere at

once, like a gnome, suggesting drinks for the women, making an obscure,

slightly risky joke with the men, confusing and mystifying the waiter.

He wanted very much to dance with Gudrun. From the first moment he had

seen her, he wanted to make a connection with her. Instinctively she

felt this, and she waited for him to come up. But a kind of sulkiness

kept him away from her, so she thought he disliked her.

'Will you schuhplatteln, gnadige Frau?' said the large, fair youth,

Loerke's companion. He was too soft, too humble for Gudrun's taste. But

she wanted to dance, and the fair youth, who was called Leitner, was

handsome enough in his uneasy, slightly abject fashion, a humility that

covered a certain fear. She accepted him as a partner.

The zithers sounded out again, the dance began. Gerald led them,

laughing, with one of the Professor's daughters. Ursula danced with one

of the students, Birkin with the other daughter of the Professor, the

Professor with Frau Kramer, and the rest of the men danced together,

with quite as much zest as if they had had women partners.

Because Gudrun had danced with the well-built, soft youth, his

companion, Loerke, was more pettish and exasperated than ever, and

would not even notice her existence in the room. This piqued her, but

she made up to herself by dancing with the Professor, who was strong as

a mature, well-seasoned bull, and as full of coarse energy. She could

not bear him, critically, and yet she enjoyed being rushed through the

dance, and tossed up into the air, on his coarse, powerful impetus. The

Professor enjoyed it too, he eyed her with strange, large blue eyes,

full of galvanic fire. She hated him for the seasoned, semi-paternal

animalism with which he regarded her, but she admired his weight of

strength.