You let me take you so--' And his hands closed on the naked
body of the other man. In another moment, he had Gerald swung over
lightly and balanced against his knee, head downwards. Relaxed, Gerald
sprang to his feet with eyes glittering.
'That's smart,' he said. 'Now try again.'
So the two men began to struggle together. They were very dissimilar.
Birkin was tall and narrow, his bones were very thin and fine. Gerald
was much heavier and more plastic. His bones were strong and round, his
limbs were rounded, all his contours were beautifully and fully
moulded. He seemed to stand with a proper, rich weight on the face of
the earth, whilst Birkin seemed to have the centre of gravitation in
his own middle. And Gerald had a rich, frictional kind of strength,
rather mechanical, but sudden and invincible, whereas Birkin was
abstract as to be almost intangible. He impinged invisibly upon the
other man, scarcely seeming to touch him, like a garment, and then
suddenly piercing in a tense fine grip that seemed to penetrate into
the very quick of Gerald's being.
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