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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

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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

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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.