Page 82 - sons-and-lovers

When the children were old enough to be left, Mrs. Mo-
rel joined the Women’s Guild. It was a little club of women
attached to the Co-operative Wholesale Society, which met
on Monday night in the long room over the grocery shop
of the Bestwood ‘Co-op”. The women were supposed to
discuss the benefits to be derived from co-operation, and
other social questions. Sometimes Mrs. Morel read a paper.
It seemed queer to the children to see their mother, who
was always busy about the house, sitting writing in her rap-
id fashion, thinking, referring to books, and writing again.
They felt for her on such occasions the deepest respect.
But they loved the Guild. It was the only thing to which
they did not grudge their mother—and that partly because
she enjoyed it, partly because of the treats they derived
from it. The Guild was called by some hostile husbands,
who found their wives getting too independent, the ‘clat-
fart’ shop—that is, the gossip-shop. It is true, from off the
basis of the Guild, the women could look at their homes, at
the conditions of their own lives, and find fault. So the col-
liers found their women had a new standard of their own,
rather disconcerting. And also, Mrs. Morel always had a lot
of news on Monday nights, so that the children liked Wil-
liam to be in when their mother came home, because she
told him things.
Then, when the lad was thirteen, she got him a job in the
‘Co-op.’ office. He was a very clever boy, frank, with rather
rough features and real viking blue eyes.
‘What dost want ter ma’e a stool-harsed Jack on ‘im for?’
said Morel. ‘All he’ll do is to wear his britches behind out an’

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