Page 570 - sons-and-lovers

her lips. Soon she was able to swallow a teaspoonful. She lay
back, so tired. The tears continued to run down his face.
‘But,’ she panted, ‘it’ll go off. Don’t cry!’
‘I’m not doing,’ he said.
After a while she was better again. He was kneeling be-
side the couch. They looked into each other’s eyes.
‘I don’t want you to make a trouble of it,’ she said.
‘No, mother. You’ll have to be quite still, and then you’ll
get better soon.’
But he was white to the lips, and their eyes as they looked
at each other understood. Her eyes were so blue—such a
wonderful forget-me-not blue! He felt if only they had been
of a different colour he could have borne it better. His heart
seemed to be ripping slowly in his breast. He kneeled there,
holding her hand, and neither said anything. Then Annie
came in.
‘Are you all right?’ she murmured timidly to her moth-
er.
‘Of course,’ said Mrs. Morel.
Paul sat down and told her about Blackpool. She was cu-
rious.
A day or two after, he went to see Dr. Jameson in Not-
tingham, to arrange for a consultation. Paul had practically
no money in the world. But he could borrow.
His mother had been used to go to the public consulta-
tion on Saturday morning, when she could see the doctor
for only a nominal sum. Her son went on the same day. The
waiting-room was full of poor women, who sat patiently
on a bench around the wall. Paul thought of his mother, in