The Final Manuscript: Material from "Laetitia
II"
The E pages (223-271 and 327-350) are two sequences inserted into
the large block of B pages extending from page 83 to 575 (which is uniform
except for Corke and Mason's copied pages). The E and B pages must have
been written and the insertion must have occurred before the revisions of
September—October 1909 because both the E and the B pages use
the
name "Worthington" (subsequently changed to "Saxton"). The section
linking the two E sequences (pages 272 to 326) was copied out by Agnes
Mason in October 1909 or March 1910, always using "Saxton".
There is evidence that Lawrence removed some E pages from the
surviving E sequences, either before they were incorporated into the B
block before October 1909, or during the drafting of "Nethermere II" in
February-April 1910. For example, some lines are deleted at the bottom of
the page now
numbered 259. If one reads the deleted sentences, and turns to page 260,
the text does not run on in meaning. There must have been material in
between pages 259 and 260; Lawrence inserted a chapter division at the top
of page 260 to account for the change of subject matter (see Note to
WP 100:16). The E quire headings were clearly written at the
same time as the main text (the ink shade is the same). The pages were
numbered individually at the same time as the 'thick' revisions.
Furthermore, a large amount of 'thick' revision on page 237 was followed
by pencil revision which deleted the whole page. The pages must therefore
have been numbered before the 'pencil' revisions, otherwise page 237
would have been thrown away. It had to be kept to maintain the existing
number order. The same is true of pages 213-215 of B paper.
The E pages appear to belong to an earlier period of composition than
the B pages. The handwriting style on E pages is much more formal and
'copper-plate' than on B pages; it is akin to the neat handwriting used by
Lawrence for his college essays from 1906-8 and for both drafts of
"Laetitia".[11] Pierre Loti's
Pêcheur d'Islande is mentioned on page 229, and since
Lawrence is believed to have read this novel in August 1907 (see Note to
WP 87:35 and Letters i 36) the reference
probably
indicates that these E pages were not written in 1906 or early 1907, and
therefore did not belong to "Laetitia I".
Why did Lawrence transfer these particular E pages? Helen Baron
and Bruce Steele have shown that when Lawrence transferred pages in
Sons and Lovers and The Trespasser, he did
so to
save himself copying out material which he felt would need only minor
revision (if any) in the new draft. The same conclusion may be reached
here. In the first E section (pages 223-271) Cyril tells George that Lettie
and Leslie have got engaged. Lettie subsequently broke the engagement in
"Laetitia II", but for "Nethermere I" Lawrence decided: 'I don't believe
Lettie ever did break her engagement to Leslie —she married him'
(Letters i 92). George's self-pitying response to Cyril's news,
and the prelude to the Christmas party of Chapter VIII (to page 271,
WP 103), were appropriate to the plots of both "Laetitia II"
and
"Nethermere I". Subsequent events for "Nethermere I" (pages 272-326)
were either written on B paper or on revised E pages; we cannot tell which
because the
pages were later copied out neatly by Agnes Mason.
Lawrence returned to E paper for pages 327-350. The events here
include Annable's discovery of the lovers in the woods and his caustic
comments about women, and Lettie's last farewell to George before she
marries Leslie. All these events could have occurred in what we know of
the plot of "Laetitia II" (Annable was first introduced into the novel in
"Laetitia II", and Leslie jilted Lettie, who then married George), whilst also
being acceptable for the
revised plot of "Nethermere I". Lawrence stopped using E pages at page
350 because he decided in Section 3 of Part II Chapter I to change the
character of Meg, whom George was now going to marry instead of Lettie.
The extent of Meg's early relationship with George is unknown (she is
briefly mentioned in a draft plot-plan of "Laetitia I" which will be published
in John Worthen's forthcoming biography of Lawrence), but the new plot
of "Nethermere I" clearly required Lawrence to increase her role in the
novel.
Lawrence may have written these E pages as separate sections in
early 1909 to accommodate the change of plot for "Nethermere I" and then
incorporated them into a second version of the draft copied out later in the
year on B paper. There is no evidence, however, for believing that he
wrote "Nethermere I" in this way. The most likely hypothesis is that the E
pages were simply transferred forward from "Laetitia II" to "Nethermere
I" as the new draft was being written. The material on these E pages which
existed before Lawrence's 1909 'thick' revision is therefore a fragment of
"Laetitia II" and is in addition to the material printed in the appendix to the
Cambridge Edition of The White Peacock.
