D. H. Lawrence's 'Odour of Chrysanthemums'
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alf minnit,'*
so we com'n ter th bottom*
, me an Bower, an I
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thowt 'e wor just behint us.*
Ah'd a ta'en a hoath as 'e wor
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just behint*
--an' 'ud come up i' th' next bantle----*
"4
He stood perplexed and concerned, as if answering a charge
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of desertion of his mate. Elizabeth Bates, now again certain of
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disaster, hastened to reassure him:7
"I expect 'e's gone to th' 'Yew Tree,'*
as you say. It's
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not the first time. I've fretted myself into a fever before now.
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He'll come home when they carry him." 10
"Ay, isn't it a bit too bad of 'em!" deplored the other
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woman. 12
"I'll just step up to Salmon's an' see if 'e is theer," offered
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the man, afraid of appearing concerned, and afraid of taking
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liberties with this woman. The bounds of intimacy are very
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dangerous to overstep. 16
"Oh, I wouldn't think of bothering you that far," said
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Elizabeth Bates, with the decision of a woman who knows her
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own affairs. 19
"It wouldna be no bother to me*
," urged the man. Elizabeth
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Bates hesitated. 21
"Yes--go on, Jack!" said his wife persuasively. "You
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can go up th' line an' across th' fields. It's as near as any way,
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an' then you can go with 'er to th' gate"*
--she looked at him
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significantly. 25
Elizabeth Bates understood quite well that this meant "you
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can call at the pit top and get them to telephone down to the
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deputy*
," but she gave no sign.31
