 in a dudgeon, Gerald staring after him with angry eyes, that
grew gradually calm and amiable as the stoutly-built form of the other man
passed into the distance.
    »There's one thing, Lupton,« said Gerald, turning suddenly to the
bridegroom. »Laura won't have brought such a fool into the family as Lottie
did.«
    »Comfort yourself with that,« laughed Birkin.
    »I take no notice of them,« laughed the bridegroom.
    »What about this race then - who began it?« Gerald asked.
    »We were late. Laura was at the top of the churchyard steps when our cab
came up. She saw Lupton bolting towards her. And she fled. But why do you look
so cross? Does it hurt your sense of the family dignity?«
    »It does, rather,« said Gerald. »If you're doing a thing, do it properly,
and if you're not going to do it properly, leave it alone.«
    »Very nice aphorism,« said Birkin.
    »Don't you agree?« asked Gerald.
    »Quite,« said Birkin. »Only it bores me rather, when you become aphoristic.«
    »Damn you, Rupert, you want all the aphorisms your own way,« said Gerald.
    »No. I want them out of the way, and you're always shoving them in it.«
    Gerald smiled grimly at this humorism. Then he made a little gesture of
dismissal with his eyebrows.
    »You don't believe in having any standard of behaviour at all, do you?« he
challenged Birkin, censoriously.
    »Standard - no. I hate standards. But they're necessary for the common ruck.
Anybody who is anything can just be himself and do as he likes.«
    »But what do you mean by being himself?« said Gerald. »Is that an aphorism
or a cliché?«
    »I mean just doing what you want to do. I think it was perfect good form in
Laura to bolt from Lupton to the church door. It was almost a masterpiece in
good form. It's the hardest thing in the world to act spontaneously on one's
impulses - and it's the only really gentlemanly thing to do - provided you're
fit to do it.«
    »You don't expect me to take you seriously, do you?« asked Gerald.
    »Yes, Gerald, you're one of the very few people I do expect that of.«
    »
