Chapter 7
However different their natures and income, privately, their lovemaking was always joyous, always equal. Jonathan remembered all shared laughter and private jokes and the sheer, breathtaking beauty of his lover.
But, perhaps inevitably, after a long season in the sun, the cracks began to show. Jonathan was spending more time in the countryside with his ageing uncles as they grew more frail. Sebastian was understanding of this at first and on Jonathan’s return to their rooms, their reconciliations were more passionate than ever.
However, it became clear that Sebastian was growing bored with the social round in London, especially when the repetitive routine was emphasised by Jonathan’s absences. As the seemingly endless war in Europe drew to a close, he was eager to spread his wings and travel abroad, in a Grand Tour that had been the norm for his father and grandfather before him, before Napoleon had put a stop to such excursions.