“I say Jim,” he said. “You must be busting yourself, trying to breathe in.”
“Don't you be too clever. I've thought about it,” said Jim. “When I'm in love, I get a great inrush of energy. I actually feel it rush in—here!” He poked his finger on the pit of his stomach. “It's the soul's expansion. And if I can't get these rushes of energy, I'M DYING, AND I KNOW I AM.”
He spoke the last words with sudden ferocity and desperation.
“All I know is,” said Tanny, “you don't look it.”
“I AM. I am.” Jim protested. “I'm dying. Life's leaving me.”
“Maybe you're choking with love,” said Robert. “Perhaps you have breathed in so much, you don't know how to let it go again. Perhaps your soul's got a crick in it, with expanding so much.”
“You're a bloody young sucking pig, you are,” said Jim.
“Even at that age, I've learned my manners,” replied Robert.
Jim looked round the party. Then he turned to Aaron Sisson.
“What do you make of 'em, eh?” he said.