see what she has to distinguish between teaching at the Grammar
School and coming to teach Win,« said Gerald.
    »The difference between a public servant and a private one. The only
nobleman to-day, king and only aristocrat, is the public, the public. You are
quite willing to serve the public - but to be a private tutor -«
    »I don't want to serve either -«
    »No! And Gudrun will probably feel the same.«
    Gerald thought for a few minutes. Then he said:
    »At all events, father won't make her feel like a private servant. He will
be fussy and grateful enough.«
    »So he ought. And so ought all of you. Do you think you can hire a woman
like Gudrun Brangwen with money? She is your equal like anything - probably your
superior.«
    »Is she?« said Gerald.
    »Yes, and if you haven't the guts to know it, I hope she'll leave you to
your own devices.«
    »Nevertheless,« said Gerald, »if she is my equal, I wish she weren't a
teacher, because I don't think teachers as a rule are my equal.«
    »Nor do I, damn them. But am I a teacher because I teach, or a parson
because I preach?«
    Gerald laughed. He was always uneasy on this score. He did not want to claim
social superiority, yet he would not claim intrinsic personal superiority,
because he would never base his standard of values on pure being. So he wobbled
upon a tacit assumption of social standing. Now Birkin wanted him to accept the
fact of intrinsic difference between human beings, which he did not intend to
accept. It was against his social honour, his principle. He rose to go.
    »I've been neglecting my business all this while,« he said, smiling.
    »I ought to have reminded you before,« Birkin replied, laughing and mocking.
    »I knew you'd say something like that,« laughed Gerald, rather uneasily.
    »Did you?«
    »Yes, Rupert. It wouldn't do for us all to be like you are - we should soon
be in the cart. When I am above the world, I shall ignore all businesses.«
    »Of course, we're not in the cart now,« said Birkin, satirically.
    »Not as much as you make out. At any rate, we have enough to eat and drink
-«
    »And