Marriage or Not

'One might as well be dead nuts on noses. There are all sorts of noses,
snub and otherwise-' Gerald laughed.

'And all sorts of marriage, also snub and otherwise?' he said.

'That's it.' 'And you think if I marry, it will be snub?' asked Gerald quizzically,
his head a little on one side.

Birkin laughed quickly.

'How do I know what it will be!' he said. 'Don't lambaste me with my
own parallels-' Gerald pondered a while.

'But I should like to know your opinion, exactly,' he said.

'On your marriage?--or marrying? Why should you want my opinion? I've
got no opinions. I'm not interested in legal marriage, one way or
another. It's a mere question of convenience.' Still Gerald watched him closely.

'More than that, I think,' he said seriously. 'However you may be bored
by the ethics of marriage, yet really to marry, in one's own personal
case, is something critical, final-' 'You mean there is something final in going to the registrar with a
woman?' 'If you're coming back with her, I do,' said Gerald. 'It is in some way
irrevocable.' 'Yes, I agree,' said Birkin.

'No matter how one regards legal marriage, yet to enter into the
married state, in one's own personal instance, is final-' 'I believe it is,' said Birkin, 'somewhere.' 'The question remains then, should one do it,' said Gerald.