y,
where she had never existed before.

Even Gudrun was a separate unit, separate, separate, having nothing to
do with this self, this Ursula, in her new world of reality. That old
shadow-world, the actuality of the past--ah, let it go! She rose free
on the wings of her new condition.

Gudrun and Gerald had not come in. They had walked up the valley
straight in front of the house, not like Ursula and Birkin, on to the
little hill at the right. Gudrun was driven by a strange desire. She
wanted to plunge on and on, till she came to the end of the valley of
snow. Then she wanted to climb the wall of white finality, climb over,
into the peaks that sprang up like sharp petals in the heart of the
frozen, mysterious navel of the world. She felt that there, over the
strange blind, terrible wall of rocky snow, there in the navel of the
mystic world, among the final cluster of peaks, there, in the infolded
navel of it all, was her consummation. If she could but come there,
alone, and pass into the infolded navel of eternal snow and of
uprising, immortal peaks of snow and rock, she would be a oneness with
all, she would be herself the eternal, infinite silence, the sleeping,
timeless, frozen centre of the All.

They went back to the house, to the Reunionsaal. She was curious to see
what was going on. The men there made her alert, roused her curiosity.
It was a new taste of life for her, they were so prostrate before her,
yet so full of life.

The party was boisterous; they were dancing all together, dancing the
Schuhplatteln, the Tyrolese dance of the clapping hands and tossing the
partner in the air at the crisis. The Germans were all proficient--they
were from Munich chiefly. Gerald also was quite passable. There were
three zithers twanging away in a corner. It was a scene of great
animation and confusion. The Professor was initiating Ursula into the
dance, stamping, clapping, and swinging her high, with amazing force
and zest. When the crisis came even Birkin was behaving manfully with
one of the Professor's fresh, strong daughters, who was exceedingly
happy. Everybody was dancing, there was the most boisterous turmoil.

Gudrun looked on with delight. The solid wooden floor resounded to the
knocking heels of the men, the air quivered with the clapping hands and
the zither music, there was a golden dust about the hanging lamps.

Suddenly the dance finished, Loerke and the students rushed out to
bring in drinks. There was