Sons and Lovers - Chapter 3
William's death came suddenly. He had been working in London, making a good life for himself. Then came the illness that would take him from them.
Gertrude received the news with a calm that frightened Paul. She moved through her days like a person in a dream, doing what needed to be done, making arrangements, writing letters, but her heart was broken.
Paul watched his mother with pain. He saw how she aged in those weeks, how her hair seemed to whiten overnight, how the light left her eyes.
"I have lost my son," she would say quietly to herself. "My beautiful William."
The house felt empty without William's energy and laughter. Even Walter was affected, though he tried not to show it. He drank more than usual, coming home later and later.
But the greatest change was in Gertrude. Before, she had divided her love between her two sons. Now, all her love focused on Paul.
Paul became the center of her world. She watched his every move, listened to his every word, offered constant advice and concern.
"Are you warm enough?" "Have you eaten?" "Are you tired, my son?"
Paul loved his mother, but he also began to feel the weight of her love. It was a love that demanded everything, that left no space for anything else.
He tried to find his own interests, his own friends, but always he returned to his mother, to the comfort of her understanding, to the safety of her protection.
And so, in the shadow of William's death, the bond between Paul and his mother grew stronger and more complex, a relationship that would shape all of Paul's future.