Hirst would merely say that he was in love with her.

But he was not in love with her.

Did love begin in that way, with the wish to go on talking?
No.

It always began in his case with definite physical sensations, and these were now absent, he did not even find her physically attractive.
There was something, of course, unusual about her--she was young, inexperienced, and inquisitive, they had been more open with each other than was usually possible.

He always found girls interesting to talk to, and surely these were good reasons why he should wish to go on talking to her; and last night, what with the crowd and the confusion, he had only been able to begin to talk to her.