[RECAP: Leonie's performance in The Crucible won her an amazing review in a UK national newspaper. She's currently staying with Father Gabriel in a secluded cottage, where there has been far more passion than prayer...]
It was the most wonderful week of Leonie's life. She knew with even greater certainty every day that Gabriel was the one she wanted to be with, forever.
They made love, they talked, they went for walks and visited traditional English pubs. One afternoon Gabriel even dragged her to a museum of Roman remains, and bought her a gold replica coin as a souvenir. "For luck," he told her.
They also worked together: Gabriel marking assignments and working on his thesis, and Leonie doing her vacation homework. It made sense to get it out of the way before Christmas, particularly as she had a personal tutor on hand.
She meant to get it out of the way, anyway. The problem was that when he came and sat by her she got totally distracted and they ended up doing a different kind of work altogether. And when Gabriel was studying, Leonie felt an impulse to see if she could distract him.
She always could. It felt like their bodies were made for one another. Leonie felt as though she had known him for a hundred years, and at the same time she had moments of feeling shivery and nervous around him.
Leonie tried to cook for him but it was a disaster as the kitchen wasn't her area of skill. Gabriel, who was an adept cook, couldn't stop laughing at her efforts.
"I'm good with salad," she protested.
"That's assembling, not cooking," Gabriel said. "How do you plan to get by at college?"
"Salads and take out," Leonie said.
They ended up getting pizza. Leonie was surprised they had pizza restaurants nearby as it seemed so rural. But even the tiny picture-postcard villages, built golden Cotswold stone, had plenty of modern conveniences.
"This would be a nice place to live," Leonie said.
"I've always thought so. It would be a good place to raise children, with all the outdoor space," Gabriel said.
He was presumably talking in the abstract, since he must have given up on that idea when entering the priesthood. But it still gave Leonie a weird feeling in her stomach. She didn't want to have children for years and years, but if she ever did, she couldn't help imagining a little boy with Gabriel's blue eyes.
She changed the subject, not wanting to sound like a crazy woman. "How did you learn to cook?" He had cooked for her with spectacular success.
Gabriel didn't want to mention that Joanne had hated cooking, so he had taken on those duties. "Just a knack, and plenty of practice. At seminary we had all our meals prepared, but at St Winifred's Father Stephen and I take turns."
Leonie felt oddly envious of Father Stephen, getting to spend every evening with Gabriel.
On the Thursday there was another call from Figgy.
"I hate to interrupt the two of you, but is there the faintest chance you could come up to London for the day? It's Uncle Hugh. He's keen to meet you again, for some reason."
"For some reason?"
"He wasn't very forthcoming. He made it sound very casual, but I can tell that it's not. He wouldn't ask me to arrange it without some reason," Figgy told her.
Leonie was reluctant to give up any of her time with Gabriel, but the Uncle Hugh thing sounded potentially important. Gabriel thought so too. "I have no more idea than you or Figgy what it could be about, but it doesn't sound like the sort of invitation you pass up on."
He was happy to come up to London for the day as well, since he could use the opportunity to visit the British Library. It was agreed with Figgy that the two of them would catch the train the next morning.
"It's going to be very strange seeing you with Father Gabriel," Figgy said.
"He'll just be wearing normal clothes," Leonie told her. "He won't be dressed for mass."
"But I'll still have to call him Father, surely? I can't call him Mr Brydon, can I? It seems so weird."
"If he's wearing jeans and you call him Father, people are going to think he's your dad," Leonie said. "And that would be super weird."
They decided that Figgy should just avoid calling him anything.
"Does he want to come to lunch too? I'm sure he would be welcome," Figgy said.
Leonie was struck with how awkward it would be, introducing Gabriel as her what? "Boyfriend" seemed presumptuous and "date" sounded way too casual. "English teacher" and "former priest" were clearly completely out of the question. There was also the chilling possibility that Figgy's Uncle Hugh might recognise him, from the reception after the play.
Fortunately Leonie knew that Gabriel wanted to get down to his research, so she was able to decline for him. But thinking about the awkwardness of it all made her worried for the future. How could they go from what they had been, to something normal? And did Gabriel even want that?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The plot thickens... ;)