"The Horse Dealer's Daughter" by Lawrence

“The Horse Dealer’s Daughter” by D. H. Lawrence

                I loved this story. It is about Mabel Pervin, a girl who is depressed. When her father was alive he took care of her. He was rich and she never wanted for anything. She felt this gave her some respect, a place in the community. Her mother died when she was fourteen leaving her and her sister the only females in the house. After her sister moved out, the only time she ever talked to another female was at church or social functions. I am sure this helped to deeping her depression. Her father had remarried after some time but Mabel did not like his new wife very much. Maybe, because Mabel was taken care of her father and brothers and she felt this second wife was taken her place. Her brothers did not treat her very well, most of the time ignoring that she was in the room, talking about her and around her. After their father’s death the family was heavily in debt. The family was forced to move out. They all decided to go their separate way. Mabel had decided where she was going but refused to tell anyone, she was going to commit suicide. On the day she decides to die, she had one thing to take care of before she could go. She needed to take care of her mother’s grave, make sure it was trimmed and clean. Jack Fergusson, the doctor, was a family friend. He had stopped by the house earlier to tell the brother goodbye but he never gave Mabel a second thought. He had noticed Mabel in the grave yard cleaning her mother’s stone. He felt an attraction to her. He could not take his eyes off her although he did not know why. After cleaning the stone, Mabel headed to the pond. The doctor making his rounds had seen her walking into the pond. He watched as she walked into water over her head. He ran to the pond to save her. Carrying her back to her house he sat her down by the fire, undressed her and wrapped her in a blanket.  When Mabel became aware of where she was she asked the doctor why he had saved her. The doctor ,who was not sure himself, at first thought it was because he was a doctor but the more he looked into her eyes, he realized he had rescued her not just because he was a doctor but because he had fallen in love with her as she had fallen in love with him. Mabel in her darkest hours had found love.