What is the main conflict in The Daffodil Sky by H. E. Bates?

Although Bates's story shares general similarities with Lawrence's work, a more notable literary antecedent for "The Daffodil Sky" is Alfred, Lord Tennyson's Maud (1855). This poem provided Bates not only with his story's title but also with a pattern for the plot. Just as the nameless protagonist of Maud kills the man whom he perceives as an obstacle to his happiness in love, so too does Bates's unnamed young lover kill a potential rival for his love. The literary relationship between Bates and Tennyson lends support to Bates's acknowledged status as a prose poet and underscores the fact that Bates's subject matter has a universal appeal. "The Daffodil Sky" is about emotions; it is a tale of passion and jealousy, of rage and regret, and it plays out themes of alienation and loneliness which are common to the literature of many ages.