The closing of Bellmoor pit

An original fiction passage set in the nineteenth century.

Mr Rook read the closure notice to the miners beside the winding house. He did not falter over a word. When he had finished, he folded the paper along its original creases and explained where the final wages would be paid. Several men remained before him, as though waiting for another sentence, but Mr Rook opened the ledger and began checking their lamp numbers. "That is all, lads," he said.

After the last man had passed through the gate, Mr Rook crossed the lamp room alone. He lowered each flame until the bright row became a thread of smoke. On his own peg hung the tin number-token he had carried since his first shift as a boy. He placed it beside the ledger, hesitated, and picked it up again. Outside, the machinery settled with a long sigh; in the sudden quiet, a loose chain tapped against its post. Mr Rook locked the gate, tested the padlock twice and walked down the hill without looking back. Inside his closed hand, the token's edge pressed deeply into his palm.

Analyse the ways in which the writer's language and structure reveal Mr Rook's response to the closure of the mine, despite his efforts to remain composed. Support your answer with references to the passage.