Snow Angels by Gill Elizabeth

Author:Gill, Elizabeth [Gill, Elizabeth]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2013-03-14T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

Gil went to see Toby. It wasn’t far. He didn’t know what his reception might be. It was early Saturday evening and it was full summer. Gil remembered what Toby’s garden was like at this time of the year and how cool and elegant his house was. The young man who opened the door was barely recognisable, bearded, unkempt and so thin that his cheekbones stood out. He smiled brilliantly.

‘My dear boy,’ he said, ‘how are you?’

Gil hesitated.

‘Do come in. Do. Do. It’s been an age.’

The house was different, and it was not just the atmosphere. It smelled cold, as though no fire had been lit in there a long time, and though the garden was sunny and the day was bright the warmth did not penetrate the house. It was not very clean. Dirty dishes were piled up in the sink. Toby offered to make tea and then called himself silly because there was no fire to heat the kettle. When he would have offered wine, there was none of that either. There was whisky, so Gil accepted that. In the sitting-room there was a bigger muddle, as though nothing had been tidied away for a very long time; books and papers in great piles on the floor and on the seats. They went out into the garden and Gil tried not to stare. It was completely overgrown. The lawn was high; the flowers had gone wild and were choked with weeds, but Toby didn’t seem to notice. They sat on wooden chairs and Gil remembered being here with Edward and how he had kissed Toby. He had also thought that Toby might blame him for Edward’s leaving him. He hadn’t been sure before that Edward and Toby no longer saw one another but he knew it for certain now.

‘How are you, Tobe?’ he said.

‘Extremely well. How are you?’

‘About the same.’

‘Yes.’ Toby smiled.

They sat in the wreck of a garden and drank whisky and it seemed incongruous.

‘My parents are wanting me to go back and live at home,’ Toby said after a while.

‘And will you?’

‘I expect I shall. I’m getting married.’

‘Married?’

‘My father is quite old, you see. I’m the youngest.’ Toby looked seriously at Gil. ‘Try not to blame Edward.’

‘I don’t!’

‘Your father spent years telling him how he would inherit everything and how important the shipyard was and that he must provide a son. And it is important. One’s family is important. If they turn you out, where have you to go? You know that. I have to go home now and pretend, just like he did. I love them, you see.’

‘But would you have done so if Edward had stayed with you?’

‘I would have given up everything,’ Toby said. ‘He blames me for what Helen did. He thinks if it hadn’t been for me, she would not have gone to you.’

‘She loved him,’ Gil said.

‘He did love her, in a way. I think as much as anything it was this house and the way of life, the simplicity.

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