ll then,' said Gerald; 'shall we strip and begin? Will you have a
drink first?'

'No, I don't want one.'

'Neither do I.'

Gerald fastened the door and pushed the furniture aside. The room was
large, there was plenty of space, it was thickly carpeted. Then he
quickly threw off his clothes, and waited for Birkin. The latter, white
and thin, came over to him. Birkin was more a presence than a visible
object, Gerald was aware of him completely, but not really visually.
Whereas Gerald himself was concrete and noticeable, a piece of pure
final substance.

'Now,' said Birkin, 'I will show you what I learned, and what I
remember. 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.

They stopped, they discussed methods, they practised grips and throws,
they became accustomed to each other, to each other's rhythm, they got
a kind of mutual physical understanding. And then again they had a real
struggle. They seemed to drive their white flesh deeper and deeper
against each other, as if they would break into a oneness. Birkin had a
great subtle energy, that would press upon the other man with an
uncanny force, weigh him like a spell put upon him. Then it would pass,
and Gerald would heave free, with white, heaving, dazzling movements.

So the two men entwined and wrestled with each other, working nearer
and nearer. Both were white and clear, but Gerald flushed smart red
where he was touched, and Birkin remained white and te