A Noble Cause

VII - A Bench In The Garden

Seven: A Bench In The Garden

In the afternoons, when Samuel usually returned to his room, Isaac visited his friend's garden. Egbert worked on the garden every day, except, naturally, for the rainy ones, when he stayed inside and helped his brother with something that needed repairing — at some point, this meant practically the entire house, but now it was mostly smaller things. That sunny August afternoon was no different from the other ones in that matter: Samuel walked upstairs after lunch and Isaac went to the garden.

Walking out of the house through the kitchen back door, Isaac took a deep breath and began walking the gravel path towards the other side of the house, taking the longer way to enjoy the sight better. It rained the day before after a week of constant sunlight, so the green was greener and Isaac loved the brightness of the colours in the garden. When he reached his destination, he spotted Egbert digging what would later become his dream pond — the one he talked about to Isaac weeks earlier. As it was Summer, it was scorchingly hot, but Egbert could not rest, even if for a moment, for this season had been particularly known for its sudden rainfall.

Isaac knew this was his way of working and he thoroughly disapproved of it, given how hot it was, how long he worked for and how little rest he took. He knew Samuel would not care if Egbert worked a little less; he had come a long way from lingering in his bedroom all day long, but still miles away from taking a stroll in the garden. No, Egbert did this for himself.

Isaac thought it was because, in reality, he wanted to see his dream garden come true, but, for Egbert, that was only part of the reason — the smaller one, at that. In reality, he did this to exhaust himself, for only then would he not think so much, for, at present, thoughts did not let him rest.

"Sit here with me for a while, would you?" Isaac said, sitting on a bench under a beech, overlooking the roses.

"I am working," Egbert retorted.

"I can see you, but you've been working for hours! Come rest a little before you faint," Isaac advised him. "It's too hot."

Egbert was reluctant to accept it but gave in in the end. It was a rather nice feeling to have a friend worry about him as much as Isaac did, and this realisation fell right on top of the pile of "thoughts that did not let him rest".

Likewise, Isaac, too, had been thinking a lot lately, as the more he knew Egbert, the more he remembered Jonathan. He had made a promise to himself after the Jonathan debacle: he would not, under any circumstance, get involved with a man while he was in Malmesbury. Naturally — for it so frustratingly appeared to be a part of his nature —, he failed. He tried very hard, at first, to not face Egbert as a potential romantic interest, but as a mere friend. He had had friends in Norwich and London whose relationship boundaries never passed those of friendship — and he never felt as though they ever would. He had no issue bonding with other men without falling for them. He liked to think he had a good enough relationship with Jason and even Samuel to use as an example of the previous assertion to himself, as he did struggle to find himself feeling something for them quite like what he, more often than he ever meant to, caught himself feeling for Egbert.

As to how it happened and why Egbert, it was much easier to understand: Egbert was loveable if there was ever one deserving of such an adjective in the world. He was kind, friendly, helpful, handsome, and, what was, perhaps, most important to Isaac: caring. That was the main reason why he fell hopelessly for Jonathan (though his brain denied it thoroughly, he knew, in his heart, that it was true: he had fallen for Jonathan, else he would not have felt the way he did after they parted ways) and it was, therefore, the main reason why he fell for Egbert. He could even trace the very moment it started, as he remembered it fondly: it was when Egbert plucked a tulip in the garden and gave him so he could remember his mother.