The Widowing of Mrs. Holroyd/Act III

​

Jack

Good mornin’, missis. Any scissors or knives to grind?

Minnie (peering down from the sofa)

Oh, I can’t be bothered to come downstairs. Call another day.

Jack

I shan’t.

Minnie (keeping up her part)

Well, I can’t come down now. (Jack stands irresolute) Go on, you have to go and steal the baby.

Jack

I ’m not.

​Minnie

Well, you can steal the eggs out of the fowl-house.

Jack

I ’m not.

Minnie

Then I shan’t play with you. (Jack takes off his bowler hat and flings it on the sofa; tears come in Minnie’s eyes) Now I ’m not friends. (She surveys him ruefully; after a few moments of silence she clambers down and goes to her mother) Mam, he won’t play with me.

Mrs. Holroyd (crossly)

Why don’t you play with her? If you begin bothering, you must go to bed.

Jack

Well, I don’t want to play.

Mrs. Holroyd

Then you must go to bed.

Jack

I don’t want to.

Mrs. Holroyd

Then what do you want, I should like to know?

Minnie

I wish my father ’d come.

Jack

I do.

Mrs. Holroyd

I suppose he thinks he ’s paying me out. This is the third time this week he ’s slunk past the door and gone down to Old Brinsley instead of coming in to his dinner. He ’ll be as drunk as a lord when he does come.

[The children look at her plaintively.

​Minnie

Is n’t he a nuisance?

Jack

I hate him. I wish he ’d drop down th’ pit-shaft.

Mrs. Holroyd

Jack!—I never heard such a thing in my life! You must n’t say such things—it’s wicked.

Jack

Well, I do.

Mrs. Holroyd (loudly)

I won’t have it. He ’s your father, remember.

Jack (in a high voice)

Well, he ’s always comin’ home an’ shoutin’ an’ bangin’ on the table. (He is getting tearful and defiant)

Mrs. Holroyd

Well, you must n’t take any notice of him.

Minnie (wistfully)

’Appen if you said something nice to him, mother, he ’d happen go to bed, and not shout.

Jack

I ’d hit him in the mouth.

Mrs. Holroyd

Perhaps we ’ll go to another country, away from him—should we?

Jack

In a ship, mother?

Minnie

In a ship, mam?

Mrs. Holroyd

Yes, in a big ship, where it’s blue sky, and water and palm-trees, and—

​Minnie

An’ dates—?

Jack

When should we go?

Mrs. Holroyd

Some day.

Minnie

But who ’d work for us? Who should we have for father?

Jack

You don’t want a father. I can go to work for us.

Mrs. Holroyd

I ’ve got a lot of money now, that your uncle left me.

Minnie (after a general thoughtful silence)

An’ would my father stop here?

Mrs. Holroyd

Oh, he ’d be all right.

Minnie

But who would he live with?

Mrs. Holroyd

I don’t know—one of his paper bonnets, if he likes.

Minnie

Then she could have her old bracelet back, could n’t she?

Mrs. Holroyd

Yes—there it is on the candlestick, waiting for her.

[There is a sound of footsteps—then a knock at the door. The children start.

Minnie (in relief)

Here he is.

[Mrs. Holroyd goes to the door. Blackmore enters.

​Blackmore

It is foggy to-night—Hello, aren’t you youngsters gone to bed?

Minnie

No, my father ’s not come home yet.

Blackmore (turning to Mrs. Holroyd)

Did he go to work then, after last night?

Mrs. Holroyd

I suppose so. His pit things were gone when I got up. I never thought he ’d go.

Blackmore

And he took his snap as usual?

Mrs. Holroyd

Yes, just as usual. I suppose he ’s gone to the New Inn. He ’d say to himself he ’d pay me out. That ’s what he always does say, “I ’ll pay thee out for that bit—I ’ll ma’e thee regret it.”

Jack

We ’re going to leave him.

Blackmore

So you think he ’s at the New Inn?

Mrs. Holroyd

I ’m sure he is—and he ’ll come when he’s full. He ’ll have a bout now, you ’ll see.

Minnie

Go and fetch him, Mr. Blackmore.

Jack

My mother says we shall go in a ship and leave him.

Mrs. Holroyd

No—perhaps you ’d better not—

​Blackmore

Oh, he shan’t see me. I can easily manage that.

Jack

Fetch him, Mr. Blackmore.

Blackmore

All right, Jack. (To Mrs. Holroyd) Shall I?

Mrs. Holroyd

We ’re always pulling on you—But yes, do!

[Blackmore goes out.

Jack

I wonder how long he ’ll be.

Mrs. Holroyd

You come and go to bed now: you ’d better be out of the way when he comes in.

Minnie

And you won’t say anything to him, mother, will you?

Mrs. Holroyd

What do you mean?

Minnie

You won’t begin of him—row him,

Mrs. Holroyd

Is he to have all his own way? What would he be like, if I did n’t row him?

Jack

But it does n’t matter, mother, if we ’re going to leave him—

Minnie

But Mr. Blackmore ’ll come back, won’t he, mam, and dad won’t shout before him?

Mrs. Holroyd (beginning to undress the children)

Yes, he ’ll come back.

​Minnie

Mam—could I have that bracelet to go to bed with?

Mrs. Holroyd

Come and say your prayers.

[They kneel, muttering in their mother’s apron.

Minnie (suddenly lifting her head)

Can I, mam?

Mrs. Holroyd (trying to be stern)

Have you finished your prayers?

Minnie

Yes.

Mrs. Holroyd

If you want it—beastly thing! (She reaches the bracelet down from the mantelpiece) Your father must have put it up there—I don’t know where I left it. I suppose he ’d think I was proud of it and wanted it for an ornament.

[Minnie gloats over it. Mrs. Holroyd lights a candle and they go upstairs. After a few moments the outer door opens, and there enters an old woman. She is of middling stature and wears a large gray shawl over her head. After glancing sharply round the room, she advances to the fire, warms herself, then, taking off her shawl, sits in the rocking-chair. As she hears Mrs. Holroyd’s footsteps, she folds her hands and puts on a lachrymose expression, turning down the corners of her mouth and arching her eyebrows.

Mrs. Holroyd

Hello, mother, is it you?

Grandmother

Yes, it ’s me. Have n’t you finished ironing?

Mrs. Holroyd

Not yet.

​Grandmother

You ’ll have your irons red-hot.

Mrs. Holroyd

Yes, I s’ll have to stand them to cool. (She does so, and moves about at her ironing)

Grandmother

And you don’t know what ’s become of Charles?

Mrs. Holroyd

Well, he ’s not come home from work yet. I supposed he was at the New Inn— Why?

Grandmother

That young electrician come knocking asking if I knew where he was. “Eh,” I said, “I ’ve not set eyes on him for over a week—nor his wife neither, though they pass th’ garden gate every time they go out. I know nowt on ’im.” I axed him what was the matter, so he said Mrs. Holroyd was anxious because he ’d not come home, so I thought I ’d better come and see. Is there anything up?

Mrs. Holroyd

No more than I ’ve told you.

Grandmother

It ’s a rum ’un, if he’s neither in the New Inn nor the Prince o’ Wales. I suppose something you ’ve done ’s set him off.

Mrs. Holroyd

It ’s nothing I ’ve done.

Grandmother

Eh, if he ’s gone off and left you, whativer shall we do! Whativer ’ave you been doing?

Mrs. Holroyd

He brought a couple of bright daisies here last night​—two of those trollops from Nottingham—and I said I ’d not have it.

Grandmother (sighing deeply)

Ay, you ’ve never been able to agree.

Mrs. Holroyd

We agreed well enough except when he drank like a fish and came home rolling.

Grandmother (whining)

Well, what can you expect of a man as ’as been shut up i’ th’ pit all day? He must have a bit of relaxation.

Mrs. Holroyd

He can have it different from that, then. At any rate, I ’m sick of it.

Grandmother

Ay, you ’ve a stiff neck, but it ’ll be bowed by you ’re my age.

Mrs. Holroyd

Will it? I ’d rather it were broke.

Grandmother

Well—there ’s no telling what a jealous man will do. (She shakes her head)

Mrs. Holroyd

Nay, I think it ’s my place to be jealous, when he brings a brazen hussy here and sits carryin’ on with her.

Grandmother

He ’d no business to do that. But you know, Lizzie, he ’s got something on his side.

Mrs. Holroyd

What, pray?

Grandmother

Well, I don’t want to make any mischief, but you ’re ​my son’s wife, an’ it ’s nothing but my duty to tell you. They ’ve been saying a long time now as that young electrician is here a bit too often.

Mrs. Holroyd

He does n’t come for my asking.

Grandmother

No, I don’t suppose he wants for asking. But Charlie ’s not the man to put up with that sort o’ work.

Mrs. Holroyd

Charlie put up with it! If he ’s anything to say, why does n’t he say it, without going to other folks . . . ?

Grandmother

Charlie ’s never been near me with a word—nor ’as he said a word elsewhere to my knowledge. For all that, this is going to end with trouble.

Mrs. Holroyd

In this hole, every gossiping creature thinks she ’s got the right to cackle about you—sickening! And a parcel of lies.

Grandmother

Well, Lizzie, I’ve never said anything against you. Charlie ’s been a handful of trouble. He made my heart ache once or twice afore you had him, and he ’s made it ache many, many ’s the time since. But it ’s not all on his side, you know.

Mrs. Holroyd (hotly)

No, I don’t know.

Grandmother

You thought yourself above him, Lizzie, an’ you know he ’s not the man to stand it.

Mrs. Holroyd

No, he ’s run away from it.

​Grandmother (venomously)

And what man would n’t leave a woman that allowed him to live on sufferance in the house with her, when he was bringing the money home?

Mrs. Holroyd

“Sufferance!”—Yes, there ’s been a lot of letting him live on “sufferance” in the house with me. It is I who have lived on sufferance, for his service and pleasure. No, what he wanted was the drink and the public house company, and because he could n’t get them here, he went out for them. That ’s all.

Grandmother

You have always been very clever at hitting things off, Lizzie. I was always sorry my youngest son married a clever woman. He only wanted a bit of coaxing and managing, and you clever women won’t do it.

Mrs. Holroyd

He wanted a slave, not a wife.

Grandmother

It ’s a pity your stomach was n’t too high for him, before you had him. But no, you could have eaten him ravishing at one time.

Mrs. Holroyd

It ’s a pity you did n’t tell me what he was before I had him. But no, he was all angel. You left me to find out what he really was.

Grandmother

Some women could have lived with him happy enough. An’ a fat lot you ’d have thanked me for my telling.

[There is a knock at the door. Mrs. Holroyd opens.

Rigley

They tell me, missus, as your mester ’s not hoom yet.

​Mrs. Holroyd

No—who is it?

Grandmother

Ask him to step inside. Don’t stan’ there lettin’ the fog in.

[Rigley steps in. He is a tall, bony, very roughly hewn collier.

Rigley

Good evenin’.

Grandmother

Oh, is it you, Mr. Rigley? (In a querulous, spiteful tone to Mrs. Holroyd) He butties along with Charlie.

Mrs. Holroyd

Oh!

Rigley

An’ han yer seen nowt on ’im?

Mrs. Holroyd

No—was he all right at work?

Rigley

Well, ’e wor nowt to mention. A bit short, like: ’adna much to say. I canna ma’e out what ’e ’s done wi’ ’issen. (He is manifestly uneasy, does not look at the two women)

Grandmother

An’ did ’e come up i’ th’ same bantle wi’ you?

Rigley

No—’e didna. As Ah was comin’ out o’ th’ stall, Ah shouted, “Art comin’, Charlie? We’re a’ off.” An’ ’e said, “Ah ’m comin’ in a minute.” ’E wor just finishin’ a stint, like, an’ ’e wanted ter get it set. An’ ’e ’d been a bit roughish in ’is temper, like, so I thöwt ’e didna want ter walk to th’ bottom wi’ us. . . .

​Grandmother (wailing)

An’ what ’s ’e gone an’ done to himself?

Rigley

Nay, missis, yo munna ax me that. ’E ’s non done owt as Ah know on. On’y I wor thinkin’, ’appen summat ’ad ’appened to ’im, like, seein’ as nob’dy had any knowings of ’im comin’ up.

Mrs. Holroyd

What is the matter, Mr. Rigley? Tell us it out.

Rigley

I canna do that, missis. It seems as if ’e niver come up th’ pit—as far as we can make out. ’Appen a bit o’ stuff ’s fell an’ pinned ’im.

Grandmother (wailing)

An’ ’ave you left ’im lying down there in the pit, poor thing?

Rigley (uneasily)

I couldna say for certain where ’e is.

Mrs. Holroyd (agitated)

Oh, it ’s very likely not very bad, mother! Don’t let us run to meet trouble.

Rigley

We ’ave to ’ope for th’ best, missis, all on us.

Grandmother (wailing)

Eh, they ’ll bring ’im ’ome, I know they will, smashed up an’ broke! An’ one of my sons they ’ve burned down pit till the flesh dropped off ’im, an’ one was shot till ’is shoulder was all of a mosh, an’ they brought ’em ’ome to me. An’ now there’s this. . . .

Mrs. Holroyd (shuddering)

Oh, don’t, mother. (Appealingly to Rigley) You don’t know that he ’s hurt?

​Rigley (shaking his head)

I canna tell you.

Mrs. Holroyd (in a high hysterical voice)

Then what is it?

Rigley (very uneasy)

I canna tell you. But yon young electrician—Mr. Blackmore—’e rung down to the night deputy, an’ it seems as though there ’s been a fall or summat. . . .

Grandmother

Eh, Lizzie, you parted from him in anger. You little knowed how you ’d meet him again.

Rigley (making an effort)

Well, I ’d ’appen best be goin’ to see what ’s betide. (He goes out)

Grandmother

I ’m sure I ’ve had my share of bad luck, I have. I ’m sure I ’ve brought up five lads in the pit, through accidents and troubles, and now there ’s this. The Lord has treated me very hard, very hard. It ’s a blessing, Lizzie, as you ’ve got a bit of money, else what would ’ave become of the children?

Mrs. Holroyd

Well, if he’s badly hurt, there ’ll be the Union-pay, and sick-pay—we shall manage. And perhaps it ’s not very much.

Grandmother

There ’s no knowin’ but what they ’ll be carryin’ him to die i’ th’ hospital.

Mrs. Holroyd

Oh, don’t say so, mother—it won’t be so bad, you ’ll see.

Grandmother

How much money have you, Lizzie, comin’?

​Mrs. Holroyd

I don’t know—not much over a hundred pounds.

Grandmother (shaking her head)

An’ what ’s that, what ’s that?

Mrs. Holroyd (sharply)

Hush!

Grandmother (crying)

Why, what?

[Mrs. Holroyd opens the door. In the silence can be heard the pulsing of the fan engine, then the driving engine chuffs rapidly: there is a skirr of brakes on the rope as it descends.

Mrs. Holroyd

That ’s twice they ’ve sent the chair down—I wish we could see. . . . Hark!

Grandmother

What is it?

Mrs. Holroyd

Yes— it ’s stopped at the gate. It ’s the doctor’s.

Grandmother (coming to the door)

What, Lizzie?

Mrs. Holroyd

The doctor’s motor. (She listens acutely) Dare you stop here, mother, while I run up to the top an’ see?

Grandmother

You ’d better not go, Lizzie, you ’d better not. A woman ’s best away.

Mrs. Holroyd

It is unbearable to wait.

Grandmother

Come in an’ shut the door—it ’s a cold that gets in your bones. (She goes in)

​Mrs. Holroyd

Perhaps while he ’s in bed we shall have time to change him. It ’s an ill wind brings no good. He ’ll happen be a better man.

Grandmother

Well, you can but try. Many a woman ’s thought the same.

Mrs. Holroyd

Oh, dear, I wish somebody would come. He ’s never been hurt since we were married.

Grandmother

No, he ’s never had a bad accident, all the years he ’s been in the pit. He ’s been luckier than most. But everybody has it, sooner or later.

Mrs. Holroyd (shivering)

It is a horrid night.

Grandmother (querulous)

Yes, come your ways in.

Mrs. Holroyd

Hark!

[There ts a quick sound of footsteps. Blackmore comes into the light of the doorway.

Blackmore

They ’re bringing him.

Blackmore

You can’t tell anything ’s the matter with him—it ’s not marked him at all.

Mrs. Holroyd

Oh, what a blessing! And is it much?

Blackmore

Well—

​Mrs. Holroyd

What is it?

Blackmore

It ’s the worst.

Grandmother

Who is it?—What does he say?

[Mrs. Holroyd sinks on the nearest chair with a horrified expression. Blackmore pulls himself together and enters. He is very pale.

Blackmore

I came to tell you they ’re bringing him home.

Grandmother

And you said it wasn’t very bad, did you?

Blackmore

No—I said it was—as bad as it could be.

Grandmother

You don’t mean to say he ’s dead?

Blackmore

Yes.

Grandmother (staring)

God help us, and how was it?

Blackmore

Some stuff fell.

Mrs. Holroyd (moaning)

Don’t, mother, don’t. I can’t bear it.

Blackmore (cold and clear)

Where will you have him laid? The men will be here in a moment.

Mrs. Holroyd (starting up)

They can carry him up to bed—

Blackmore

It ’s no good taking him upstairs. You ’ll have to wash him and lay him out.

Mrs. Holroyd (startled)

Well—

Blackmore

He ’s in his pit-dirt.

Grandmother

He is, bless him. We ’d better have him down here, Lizzie, where we can handle him.

Mrs. Holroyd

Yes.

[She begins to put the tea things away, but drops the sugar out of the basin and the lumps fly broadcast.

Blackmore

Never mind, I ’ll pick those up. You put the children’s clothes away.

[Mrs. Holroyd stares witless around. The Grandmother sits rocking herself and weeping. Blackmore clears the table, putting the pots in the scullery. ​He folds the white tablecloth and pulls back the table. The door opens. Mrs. Holroyd utters a cry. Rigley enters.

Rigley

They ’re bringing him now, missis.

Mrs. Holroyd

Oh!

Rigley (simply)

There must ha’ been a fall directly after we left him.

Mrs. Holroyd (frowning, horrified)

No—no!

Rigley (to Blackmore)

It fell a’ back of him, an’ shut ’im in as you might shut a loaf i’ th’ oven. It never touched him.

Mrs. Holroyd (staring distractedly)

Well, then—

Rigley

You see, it come on ’im as close as a trap on a mouse, an’ gen him no air, an’ what wi’ th’ gas, it smothered him. An’ it wouldna be so very long about it neither.

Mrs. Holroyd (quiet with horror)

Oh!

Grandmother

Eh, dear—dear. Eh, dear—dear.

Rigley (looking hard at her)

I wasna to know what ’ud happen.

​

[Rigley looks away at the wall. Blackmore has made a space in the middle of the floor.

Blackmore

If you ’ll take the rocking-chair off the end of the rug, Mrs. Holroyd, I can pull it back a bit from the fire, and we can lay him on that.

Grandmother (petulantly)

What ’s the good of messing about— (She moves)

Mrs. Holroyd

It suffocated him?

Rigley (shaking his head, briefly)

Yes. ’Appen th’ after-damp—

Blackmore

He ’d be dead in a few minutes.

Mrs. Holroyd

No—oh, think!

Blackmore

You must n’t think.

Rigley (suddenly)

They commin’!

[Mrs. Holroyd stands at bay. The Grandmother half rises. Rigley and Blackmore efface themselves as much as possible. A man backs into the room, bearing the feet of the dead man, which are shod in great pit boots. As the head bearer comes awkwardly past the table, the coat with which the body is covered slips off, revealing Holroyd in his pit-dirt, naked to the waist.

Manager (a little stout, white-bearded man)

Mind now, mind. Ay, missis, what a job, indeed, it is! (Sharply) Where mun they put him?

Mrs. Holroyd (turning her face aside from the corpse)

Lay him on the rug.

​Manager

Steady now, do it steady.

Manager

Yi, Joe, I ’ll back my life o’ that.

Grandmother

Eh, Mr. Chambers, what ’s this affliction on my old age. You kept your sons out o’ the pit, but all mine ’s in. And to think of the trouble I ’ve had—to think o’ the trouble that ’s come out of Brinsley pit to me.

Manager

It has that, it ’as that, missis. You seem to have had more ’n your share; I ’ll admit it, you have.

Mrs. Holroyd (who has been staring at the men)

It is too much!

[Blackmore frowns; Rigley glowers at her.

Manager

You never knowed such a thing in your life. Here ’s a man, holin’ a stint, just finishin’ (He puts himself as if in the holer’s position, gesticulating freely) An’ a lot o’ stuff falls behind him, clean as a whistle, shuts him up safe as a worm in a nut and niver touches him—niver knowed such a thing in your life.

Mrs. Holroyd

Ugh!

Manager

It niver hurt him—niver touched him.

Mrs. Holroyd

Yes, but—but how long would he be (she makes a sweeping gesture; the Manager looks at her and will ​not help her out)—how long would it take—oh—to—to kill him?

Manager

Nay, I canna tell ye. ’E didna seem to ha’ strived much to get out—did he, Joe?

Second Bearer

No, not as far as Ah ’n seen.

First Bearer

You look at ’is ’ands, you’ll see then. ’E ’d non ha’e room to swing the pick.

[The Manager goes on his knees.

Mrs. Holroyd (shuddering)

Oh, don’t!

Manager

Ay, th’ nails is broken a bit—

Mrs. Holroyd (clenching her fists)

Don’t!

Manager

’E ’d be sure ter ma’e a bit of a fight. But th’ gas ’ud soon get hold on ’im. Ay, it ’s an awful thing to think of, it is indeed.

Mrs. Holroyd (her voice breaking)

I can’t bear it!

Manager

Eh, dear, we none on us know what ’s comin’ next.

Mrs. Holroyd (getting hysterical)

Oh, it ’s too awful, it ’s too awful!

Blackmore

You ’ll disturb the children.

Grandmother

And you don’t want them down here.

Manager

’E ’d no business to ha’ been left, you know.

​Rigley

An’ what man, dost think, wor goin’ to sit him down on his hams an’ wait for a chap as wouldna say “thank yer” for his cump’ny? ’E ’d bin ready to fall out wi’ a flicker o’ the candle, so who dost think wor goin’ ter stop when we knowed ’e on’y kep on so’s to get shut on us.

Manager

Tha ’rt quite right, Bill, quite right. But theer you are.

Rigley

An’ if we ’d stopped, what good would it ha’ done—

Manager

No, ’appen not, ’appen not.

Rigley

For, not known—

Manager

I ’m sayin’ nowt agen thee, neither one road nor t ’other. (There is general silence—then, to Mrs. Holroyd) I should think th’ inquest ’ll be at th’ New Inn to-morrow, missis. I ’ll let you know.

Mrs. Holroyd

Will there have to be an inquest?

Manager

Yes—there ’ll have to be an inquest. Shall you want anybody in, to stop with you to-night?

Mrs. Holroyd

No.

Manager

Well, then, we ’d best be goin’. I ’ll send my missis down first thing in the morning. It ’s a bad job, a bad job, it is. You ’ll be a’ right then?

​Mrs. Holroyd

Yes.

Manager

Well, good-night then—good-night all.

All

Good-night. Good-night.

[The Manager, followed by the two bearers, goes out, closing the door.

Rigley

It ’s like this, missis. I never should ha’ gone, if he had n’t wanted us to.

Mrs. Holroyd

Yes, I know.

Rigley

’E wanted to come up by ’s sen.

Mrs. Holroyd (wearily)

I know how it was, Mr. Rigley.

Rigley

Yes—

Blackmore

Nobody could foresee.

Rigley (shaking his head)

No. If there ’s owt, missis, as you want—

Mrs. Holroyd

Yes—I think there is n’t anything.

Rigley (after a moment)

Well—good-night—we ’ve worked i’ the same stall ower four years now—

Mrs. Holroyd

Yes.

Rigley

Well, good-night, missis.

​Mrs. Holroyd and Blackmore

Good-night.

[The Grandmother all this time has been rocking herself to and fro, moaning and murmuring beside the dead man. When Rigley has gone Mrs. Holroyd stands staring distractedly before her. She has not yet looked at her husband.

Grandmother

Have you got the things ready, Lizzie?

Mrs. Holroyd

What things?

Grandmother

To lay the child out.

Mrs. Holroyd (she shudders)

No—what?

Grandmother

Have n’t you put him by a pair o’ white stockings, nor a white shirt?

Mrs. Holroyd

He ’s got a white cricketing shirt—but not white stockings.

Grandmother

Then he ’ll have to have his father’s. Let me look at the shirt, Lizzie. (Mrs. Holroyd takes one from the dresser drawer) This ’ll never do—a cold, canvas thing wi’ a turndown collar. I s’ll ’ave to fetch his father’s. (Suddenly) You don’t want no other woman to touch him, to wash him and lay him out, do you?

Mrs. Holroyd (weeping)

No.

Grandmother

Then I ’ll fetch him his father’s gear. We must n’t ​let him set, he ’ll be that heavy, bless him. (She takes her shawl) I shan’t be more than a few minutes, an’ the young fellow can stop here till I come back.

Blackmore

Can’t I go for you, Mrs. Holroyd?

Grandmother

No. Yow could n’t find the things. We ’ll wash him as soon as I get back, Lizzie.

Mrs. Holroyd

All right.

[She watches her mother-in-law go out. Then she starts, goes in the scullery for a bowl, in which she pours warm water. She takes a flannel and soap and towel. She stands, afraid to go any farther.

Blackmore

Well!

Mrs. Holroyd

This is a judgment on us.

Blackmore

Why?

Mrs. Holroyd

On me, it is—

Blackmore

How?

Mrs. Holroyd

It is.

[Blackmore shakes his head.

Mrs. Holroyd

Yesterday you talked of murdering him.

Blackmore

Well!

Mrs. Holroyd

Now we ’ve done it.

​Blackmore

How?

Mrs. Holroyd

He ’d have come up with the others, if he had n’t felt—felt me murdering him.

Blackmore

But we can’t help it.

Mrs. Holroyd

It ’s my fault.

Blackmore

Don’t be like that!

Blackmore

No?

Mrs. Holroyd

I ’ve killed him, that is all.

Blackmore

No, you have n’t.

Mrs. Holroyd

Yes, I have.

Blackmore

We could n’t help it.

Mrs. Holroyd

If he had n’t felt, if he had n’t known, he would n’t have stayed, he ’d have come up with the rest.

Blackmore

Well, and even if it was so, we can’t help it now.

Mrs. Holroyd

But we ’ve killed him.

Blackmore

Ah, I ’m tired—

​Mrs. Holroyd

Yes.

Blackmore (after a pause)

Shall I stay?

Mrs. Holroyd

I—I dare n’t be alone with him.

Blackmore (sitting down)

No.

Mrs. Holroyd

I don’t love him. Now he ’s dead. I don’t love him. He lies like he did yesterday.

Blackmore

I suppose, being dead—I don’t know—

Mrs. Holroyd

I think you ’d better go.

Blackmore (rising)

Tell me.

Mrs. Holroyd

Yes.

Blackmore

You want me to go.

Mrs. Holroyd

No—but do go. (They look at each other)

Blackmore

I shall come to-morrow (he goes out)

[Mrs. Holroyd stands very stiff, as if afraid of the dead man. Then she stoops down and begins to sponge his face, talking to him.

Mrs. Holroyd

My dear, my dear—oh, my dear! I can’t bear it, my dear—you should n’t have done it. You should n’t have done it. Oh—I can’t bear it, for you. Why couldn ’t I do anything for you? The ​children’s father—my dear—I was n’t good to you. But you should n’t have done this to me. Oh, dear, oh, dear! Did it hurt you?—oh, my dear, it hurt you—oh, I can’t bear it. No, things are n’t fair—we went wrong, my dear. I never loved you enough—I never did. What a shame for you! It was a shame. But you did n’t—you didn’t try. I would have loved you—I tried hard. What a shame for you! It was so cruel for you. You could n’t help it—my dear, my dear. You could n’t help it. And I can’t do anything for you, and it hurt you so! (She weeps bitterly, so her tears fall on the dead man’s face; suddenly she kisses him) My dear, my dear, what can I do for you, what can I? (She weeps as she wipes his face gently)

Mrs. Holroyd

Yes.

Grandmother

It ’s a wonder you ’re not frightened. You ’ve not washed his face.

Mrs. Holroyd

Why should I be afraid of him—now, mother?

Grandmother (weeping)

Ay, poor lamb, I can’t think as ever you could have had reason to be frightened of him, Lizzie.

Mrs. Holroyd

Yes—once—

Grandmother

Oh, but he went wrong. An’ he was a taking lad, as iver was. (She cries pitifully) And when I waked his father up and told him, he sat up in bed staring ​over his whiskers, and said should he come up? But when I ’d managed to find the shirt and things, he was still in bed. You don’t know what it is to live with a man that has no feeling. But you ’ve washed him, Lizzie?

Mrs. Holroyd

I was finishing his head.

Grandmother

Let me do it, child.

Mrs. Holroyd

I ’ll finish that.

Grandmother

Poor lamb—poor dear lamb! Yet I would n’t wish him back, Lizzie. He must ha’ died peaceful, Lizzie. He seems to be smiling. He always had such a rare smile on him—not that he’s smiled much of late—

Mrs. Holroyd

I loved him for that.

Grandmother

Ay—my poor child—my poor child.

Mrs. Holroyd

He looks nice, mother.

Grandmother

I hope he made his peace with the Lord.

Mrs. Holroyd

Yes.

Grandmother

If he had n’t time to make his peace with the Lord, I ’ve no hopes of him. Dear o’ me, dear o’ me. Is there another bit of flannel anywhere?

[Mrs. Holroyd rises and brings a piece. The Grandmother begins to wash the breast of the dead man.

​Grandmother

Well, I hope you ’ll be true to his children at least, Lizzie. (Mrs. Holroyd weeps—the old woman continues her washing) Eh—and he’s fair as a lily. Did you ever see a man with a whiter skin—and flesh as fine as the driven snow. He ’s beautiful, he is, the lamb. Many ’s the time I ’ve looked at him, and I ’ve felt proud of him, I have. And now he lies here. And such arms on ’im! Look at the vaccination marks, Lizzie. When I took him to be vaccinated, he had a little pink bonnet with a feather. (Weeps) Don’t cry, my girl, don’t. Sit up an’ wash him a’ that side, or we s’ll never have him done. Oh, Lizzie!

Mrs. Holroyd (sitting up, startled)

What—what?

Grandmother

Look at his poor hand!

[She holds up the right hand. The nails are bloody.

Mrs. Holroyd

Oh, no! Oh, no! No!

[Both women weep.

Grandmother (after awhile)

We maun get on, Lizzie.

Mrs. Holroyd (sitting up)

I can’t touch his hands.

Grandmother

But I ’m his mother—there’s nothing I could n’t do for him.

Mrs. Holroyd

I don’t care—I don’t care.

Grandmother

Prithee, prithee, Lizzie, I don’t want thee goin’ off, Lizzie.

​Mrs. Holroyd (moaning)

Oh, what shall I do!

Grandmother

Why, go thee an’ get his feet washed. He ’s setting stiff, and how shall we get him laid out?

[Mrs. Holroyd, sobbing, goes, kneels at the miner’s feet, and begins pulling off the great boots.

Grandmother

There ’s hardly a mark on him. Eh, what a man he is! I ’ve had some fine sons, Lizzie, I ’ve had some big men of sons.

Mrs. Holroyd

He was always a lot whiter than me. And he used to chaff me.

Grandmother

But his poor hands! I used to thank God for my children, but they ’re rods o’ trouble, Lizzie, they are. Unfasten his belt, child. Me mun get his things off soon, or else we s’ll have such a job.

[Mrs. Holroyd, having dragged off the boots, rises. She is weeping.