Birkin watched and
watched.
Ursula stood aside watching the living man stare at the frozen face of
the dead man. Both faces were unmoved and unmoving. The candle-flames
flickered in the frozen air, in the intense silence.
'Haven't you seen enough?' she said.
He got up.
'It's a bitter thing to me,' he said.
'What--that he's dead?' she said.
His eyes just met hers. He did not answer.
'You've got me,' she said.
He smiled and kissed her.
'If I die,' he said, 'you'll know I haven't left you.'
'And me?' she cried.
'And you won't have left me,' he said. 'We shan't have any need to
despair, in death.'
She took hold of his hand.
'But need you despair over Gerald?' she said.
'Yes,' he answered.
They went away. Gerald was taken to England, to be buried. Birkin and
Ursula accompanied the body, along with one of Gerald's brothers. It
was the Crich brothers and sisters who insisted on the burial in
England. Birkin wanted to leave the dead man in the Alps, near the
snow.
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