Not just one but two ‘outre’ notions hit Borsetshire courtesy of vet nurse Paul and his boyfriend, Dull Etienne. Plus, Alice pleads not guilty to dangerous driving
I have been reading a lot of Trollope recently, and am especially struck by his characters, who are, by and large, decent, well-intentioned people – but who, like actual real living humans, blunder their way through life, making poor decisions and hurting each other. So it is with Fallon and Harrison, once Ambridge’s happiest couple, now – perhaps – teetering on the brink. The suppressed fault lines in their almost too-perfect relationship were always big: is there a God? Should we have babies? Now these fault lines have been exposed by “the events” – the great car crash on the bridge over the Am, after which Fallon had a miscarriage. For Harrison, that awoke his dormant but deep desire for a baby; Fallon remained as clear as ever that she never wants a child. Harrison turned to the church for succour; Fallon to a night out clubbing. I am firmly team Fallon, but it’s hard not to feel for Harrison, who has been in mourning for the possibility of a different kind of life.
Talking of Victorian novelists, I have some hope of a Wilkie Collins-style plot in the offing. Out of the blue, Alice has pleaded not guilty to the dangerous driving charges at the magistrate’s court, because something “deep inside her” told her she couldn’t have caused the above-mentioned car crash. She’s right, of course: George Grundy was at the wheel of her car at the moment of the collision, while she was comatose in the passenger seat. In the confusion following the accident, he moved her across to the driver’s side to incriminate her and protect himself. Everyone thinks she’s mad, of course, except for Chris, her ex-husband, who still loves her – despite her alcoholism and despite their divorce. It would be delicious if he turned amateur sleuth and brought to light the nefarious deeds of his own nephew.
