Quote:
"Come," said Severn, full of pity, and gentle as a woman. "Let me help you to bed."
Thomas, leaning heavily on the young man, whose white garments were dabbed with blood and water, stumbled forlornly into his room. There Severn unlaced his boots and got off the remnant of his collar. At this point Mrs. Thomas came in. She had taken her part; she was weeping also.
"Thank you, Mr. Severn," she said coldly. Severn, dismissed, slunk out of the room. She went up to her husband, took his pathetic head upon her bosom, and pressed it there. As Severn went downstairs, he heard the few sobs of the husband, among the quick sniffing of the wife's tears. And he saw Kate, who had stood on the stairs to see all went well, climb up to her room with cold, calm face.
He locked up the house, put everything in order. Then he heated some water to bathe his face, which was swelling painfully. Having finished his fomentations, he sat thinking bitterly, with a good deal of shame.
As he sat, Mrs. Thomas came down for something. Her bearing was cold and hostile. She glanced round to see all was safe. Then:
"You will put out the light when you go to bed, Mr. Severn," she said, more formally than a landlady at the seaside would speak. He was insulted: any ordinary being would turn off the light on retiring. Moreover, almost every night it was he who locked up the house, and came last to bed.
"I will, Mrs. Thomas," he answered. He bowed, his eyes flickering with irony, because he knew his face was swollen.
She returned again after having reached the landing.
"Perhaps you wouldn't mind helping me down with the box," she said, quietly and coldly. He did not reply, as he would have done an hour before, that he certainly should not help her, because it was a man's job, and she must not do it. Now, he rose, bowed, and went upstairs with her. Taking the greater part of the weight, he came quickly downstairs with the load.
"Thank you; it's very good of you. Good-night," said Mrs. Thomas, and she retired.
In the morning Severn rose late. His face was considerably swollen. He went in his dressing-gown across to Thomas's room. The other man lay in bed, looking much the same as ever, but mournful in aspect, though pleased within himself at being coddled.
"How are you this morning?" Severn asked.
Thomas smiled, looked almost with tenderness up at his friend.
"Oh, I'm all right, thanks," he replied.
He looked at the other's swollen and bruised cheek, then again, affectionately, into Severn's eyes.
"I'm sorry"--with a glance of indication--"for that," he said simply. Severn smiled with his eyes, in his own winsome manner.
"I didn't know we were such essential brutes," he said. "I thought I was so civilised . . ."
Again he smiled, with a wry, stiff mouth. Thomas gave a deprecating little grunt of a laugh.
"Oh, I don't know," he said. "It shows a man's got some fight in him."
He looked up in the other's face appealingly. Severn smiled, with a touch of bitterness. The two men grasped hands.
To the end of their acquaintance, Severn and Thomas were close friends, with a gentleness in their bearing, one towards the other. On the other hand, Mrs. Thomas was only polite and formal with Severn, treating him as if he were a stranger.
Kate, her fate disposed of by her "betters", passed out of their three lives
.
Quote:
"Thank you, Mr. Severn," she said coldly. Severn, dismissed, slunk out of the room. She went up to her husband, took his pathetic head upon her bosom, and pressed it there. As Severn went downstairs, he heard the few sobs of the husband, among the quick sniffing of the wife's tears. And he saw Kate, who had stood on the stairs to see all went well, climb up to her room with cold, calm face.
Why is she thanking him? He just beat up her husband? And again we see her seeking a sort of redemption for guilt. It has to be a sort of subconscious guilt because I still don't see what exactly she is guilty of. And she gets extremely formal with Severn. Whatever sexual tension had existed is long gone.
Quote:
"Perhaps you wouldn't mind helping me down with the box," she said, quietly and coldly. He did not reply, as he would have done an hour before, that he certainly should not help her, because it was a man's job, and she must not do it. Now, he rose, bowed, and went upstairs with her. Taking the greater part of the weight, he came quickly downstairs with the load.
Before the fight he would not have had Mrs Thomas help him with the trunk "because it was a man's job." Wasn't Severn the one arguing for women's rights earlier that evening? But what's really curious is that in helping him, Mrs. Thomas takes on the man's role. Mr. Thomas was just heard to be sobbing (some neanderthal! :lol: ) and now his wife is doing his work, and Severn has just been taking on the role of a woman. It's all rather odd, and I'm not sure what significance it has. But Lawrence does use this sort of swapping of gender roles frequently in his works.
Quote:
In the morning Severn rose late. His face was considerably swollen. He went in his dressing-gown across to Thomas's room. The other man lay in bed, looking much the same as ever, but mournful in aspect, though pleased within himself at being coddled.
"How are you this morning?" Severn asked.
Thomas smiled, looked almost with tenderness up at his friend.
"Oh, I'm all right, thanks," he replied.
He looked at the other's swollen and bruised cheek, then again, affectionately, into Severn's eyes.
Is this more than bonding? There is this tendency for Lawrence to describe bonding men in a homosexual way. Lawrence has been accused of being secretly gay.
Quote:
To the end of their acquaintance, Severn and Thomas were close friends, with a gentleness in their bearing, one towards the other. On the other hand, Mrs. Thomas was only polite and formal with Severn, treating him as if he were a stranger.
Kate, her fate disposed of by her "betters", passed out of their three lives.
Perhaps the three lives have changed. Mrs. Thomas again lives with proper decorum.
