Page 455 - sons-and-lovers

it grew too strong for her. And, deep down, she had hated
him because she loved him and he dominated her. She had
resisted his domination. She had fought to keep herself free
of him in the last issue. And she was free of him, even more
than he of her.
‘And,’ he continued, ‘we shall always be more or less each
other’s work. You have done a lot for me, I for you. Now let
us start and live by ourselves.’
‘What do you want to do?’ she asked.
‘Nothing—only to be free,’ he answered.
She, however, knew in her heart that Clara’s influence
was over him to liberate him. But she said nothing.
‘And what have I to tell my mother?’ she asked.
‘I told my mother,’ he answered, ‘that I was breaking
off—clean and altogether.’
‘I shall not tell them at home,’ she said.
Frowning, ‘You please yourself,’ he said.
He knew he had landed her in a nasty hole, and was leav-
ing her in the lurch. It angered him.
‘Tell them you wouldn’t and won’t marry me, and have
broken off,’ he said. ‘It’s true enough.’
She bit her finger moodily. She thought over their whole
affair. She had known it would come to this; she had seen it
all along. It chimed with her bitter expectation.
‘Always—it has always been so!’ she cried. ‘It has been
one long battle between us—you fighting away from me.’
It came from her unawares, like a flash of lightning. The
man’s heart stood still. Was this how she saw it?
‘But we’ve had SOME perfect hours, SOME perfect times,

Sons and Lovers