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.Realizing he was becoming maudlin and remindinghimself firmly that that life was dead to him now, Georgeattacked his lamb chops with renewed vigor.Matthew s father, the rector, had turned out to be anerudite and entertaining man who leavened his obviouslydeeply-held religious beliefs with a strong sense of humor.JL Merrow Dulce et Decorum Est [48]George was left in no doubt as to whom Matthew hadinherited his affinity for fun from and could easily imaginethe reverend being very well-loved indeed among hisparishioners.He had the gift of making almost any story intoan amusing anecdote, even those with more than a pinch ofpiety.When drawing George into conversation, he did sowith tact bordering on genius, managing to avoid the pastentirely without once making it obvious he was doing so.Others, unfortunately, were not so successful. Yourown people not protesting your absence today, George?Agnes s husband Gerald asked as he passed the carrots, andGeorge almost dropped them from his suddenly numbfingers. George doesn t have any people, Gerald, his wife saidquickly, and George realized the family had been carefullyprimed about more than his dislike of speaking of the war.He wondered where they imagined he d sprung from mostlikely they assumed he was the by-blow of some wealthyman who d done the decent thing by educating George andsecuring him a job and then washed his hands of hisoffspring.George could hardly fault them for that after all,Johnson was a not unlikely surname for a child of such aninformal union. Ah! Terribly sorry and all that, Gerald muttered,looking abashed. Still, at least one doesn t have the wrangleof keeping everyone happy, eh? There was a faint sound, asof a shin being kicked under the table, and Gerald startedperceptibly. More wine, Agnes? he asked abruptly.Looking across the table, George caught Matthew s eyeand smiled at him in gratitude.JL Merrow Dulce et Decorum Est [49]They retired after dinner to the drawing room, wherethey listened to gramophone records until Matthew sbrothers pronounced themselves bored and insisted upon agame of charades.Jimmy was a fresh-faced boy of eighteenin his last year of school, Peter a couple of years younger.Both boys, unlike Matthew, seemed to favor their mother intheir appearance they had certainly inherited her heightbut George found Matthew s features more appealing andappreciated not having to crane his neck to talk to his friend.When they finally headed off to bed, George felt acurious shyness overtake him.His thoughts kept returningto the moment of intimacy they d shared before dinner.HadMatthew really been flirting with him? He must haveimagined it, he decided.And even if he had not&.It couldnever be.Determined to stop torturing himself, George changedswiftly into his pajamas and got into bed without even aglance over at Matthew s side of the room.They were friends,that was all and to be friends was quite enough.Wassplendid, even. Lord, I m tired.Must be all that travelling. Matthewyawned loudly, stretched, and began to take off his clothespainfully slowly. Still, it s good to be back.I hope you reenjoying your stay so far, George? Pulling off his shirt, hehung it up, then came to sit on George s bed, bare-chested. You are enjoying yourself, aren t you? I& yes, of course! George s throat seemed suddenlytight, and his blankets far too hot. Your family have beenwonderfully welcoming.JL Merrow Dulce et Decorum Est [50] I m so glad to hear that, Matthew said, and he got upto put on his pajamas. G night, George.Sleep tight! Goodnight, George echoed, wondering how in theworld he was to get to sleep that night. WAKE up, sleepyhead! It s Christmas morning!George opened one bleary eye to find Matthew s boyishlygrinning face not six inches away. Bah, humbug, hemuttered only half in jest, pulling the pillow over his head.It was torn away from him without ceremony [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]