“Would she suffer?” asked Gerald, also amused now.
Both men smiled in malice and amusement.
“Badly, I should think; seeing how self-conscious she is.”
“She is self-conscious, is she? Then what made her do it? For I certainly think it was quite uncalled-for, and quite unjustified.”
“I suppose it was a sudden impulse.”
“Yes, but how do you account for her having such an impulse? I’d done her no harm.”
Birkin shook his head.
“The Amazon suddenly came up in her, I suppose,” he said.
“Well,” replied Gerald, “I’d rather it had been the Orinoco.”
They both laughed at the poor joke. Gerald was thinking how Gudrun had said she would strike the last blow too. But some reserve made him keep this back from Birkin.