She lifted her eyes from the zig-zag red threads unravelling, looked at him. But is it OK if they have children?He tilted his head on one side, breathed out like a car tyre and poured himself more whisky. He poured her one too, chinked the edges of its crystal against his own. If Grace had been where he was she would have looked as well This wasn’t like her. She’d thought herself above being spiteful for some reason; vanity, competitiveness, fear he’d be better at it Taking a turn like this now wasn’t doing her any favours.
Tables would turn, Aiden would get to be the reasonable one and she’d get to be the sarky cow. Who had any moral high ground would disappear behind manners. In a contest between manners and morals, manners won every time. She had to rein herself in, calm down, even though the last thing she felt was calm. Especially when the last thing she felt was calm.Yes, she said Yes.
Her heart felt seized, as though something that didn’t like it very much had hold of it You’re right It is very civilised it is it is. Like this was the first thing he’d able to be definite about in his life Like he was trying it out for size. She looked at him hard but it was her that looked away first He was so good-looking, so apparently collected. The hem of his coat needed caught up again, all the previous stitching she’d done the worn colour thread showing like a shark’s mouth near his knees.It’s absolutely OK for two people to grow in different directions, he said over her head It’s OK for people to want different things.Sure she said It is Very civilised Very – she kept her eyes on the hem – sewn up D’you read it someplace?He looked. It’s hunky fucking dory.Don’t be like that, he said; thon bitter way It’s not like you.Oh, she said Oh really.No, he said, firm She felt like he’d said it differently somehow Like he’d never been firm with her till that moment. Violent instability might cause Scots to value the diplomatic and military power of the United Kingdom.In the end, it comes down to politics, a science in every way superior to economics !. I don’t love you any more.
He was sitting in front of the fire, its yellow halo flickering behind his head, the cigarette between the tips of his fingers ghosting a veil over one eye She was waiting for him to speak, just say it. It would be a relief to hear it, she thought, even once, to listen to the sound of those words finally spat out But he didn’t say it. He said something else.
It’s OK for people to want different things, he said It’s OK.Sure, she said. Scotland has prospered, dammit! It is as if the SNP wants the euro only because sterling isn’t in it, and its feelings are largely negative (anti-London) rather than positive (pro-Europe).That doesn’t mean to say an independent Scotland wouldn’t prosper. Just as Union unleashed Scotland’s energies, after some delay, in the 18th century, so Disunion could do the same at the turn of the twenty-first But that is a matter of hope. The euro may fall to bits like a bed with 11 people in it, and a severe economic depression would make the people of Caithness appreciate the deep purses of Crawley and Kensington. Anyway, in the 1990s, sterling has meant growth and employment, while the euro countries have stagnated and lost jobs.