Page 109 - sons-and-lovers

The boy walked all day, went miles and miles, rather
than own himself beaten and come home to her empty-
handed. She never realised this, whilst he was young. She
was a woman who waited for her children to grow up. And
William occupied her chiefly.
But when William went to Nottingham, and was not so
much at home, the mother made a companion of Paul. The
latter was unconsciously jealous of his brother, and Wil-
liam was jealous of him. At the same time, they were good
friends.
Mrs. Morel’s intimacy with her second son was more
subtle and fine, perhaps not so passionate as with her eldest.
It was the rule that Paul should fetch the money on Friday
afternoons. The colliers of the five pits were paid on Fridays,
but not individually. All the earnings of each stall were put
down to the chief butty, as contractor, and he divided the
wages again, either in the public-house or in his own home.
So that the children could fetch the money, school closed
early on Friday afternoons. Each of the Morel children—
William, then Annie, then Paul—had fetched the money on
Friday afternoons, until they went themselves to work. Paul
used to set off at half-past three, with a little calico bag in
his pocket. Down all the paths, women, girls, children, and
men were seen trooping to the offices.
These offices were quite handsome: a new, red-brick
building, almost like a mansion, standing in its own
grounds at the end of Greenhill Lane. The waiting-room
was the hall, a long, bare room paved with blue brick, and
having a seat all round, against the wall. Here sat the col-

10 Sons and Lovers