545

“Yo.”  Keith answered Jason’s call at once, from which Jason deduced that things were quiet at The Lord Grey. 

“Yeah, sexy bum.”

“Too loite, too loite!  Oi’ve got religion.  Never darken moi doorstep again.  From naow on, I’m as chaste as the driven snaow.”

“Well, that’s a pity.  ‘Cos I was going to invite you to a meeting this evening at 5.30 at the Café Novio on Brunswick Street.”

“Ooh!  Romance!”  His voice took on the fruity cadences of an old-fashioned TV or film announcer.  “Two laonely gays mayt for the first time over coffee. One thing layds to another and before ya knaow it ….”

“I’m ending this call right now,” said Jason, choking back a laugh.  “5.30, at the Novio, OK?  I’ve got something important to tell you, you idiot.”

“What?”

“Goodbye, my sweet, light of my life, heart of my heart’s desiring.”

As Jason ended the called he could have sworn he heard Keith say “Demented” in a weary tone at the other end.  He grinned to himself.  He felt, all at once, ridiculously happy.

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544

Luigi saw it in his face.  “He’ll be your friend too, you know.  He’s a top bloke.  He’s kind.  He’s been through pain and loss himself, and it’s made him … better.  I think before Brent killed himself, he was maybe a little arrogant.”  Perhaps, he thought to himself, it was that trace of arrogance which first drew me to him. My need to be humiliated by a straight manly bloke.  Well, he thought with determination, I’m putting that behind me. I’m going to make a success of my relationship with Cody.  I am.

Cody didn’t answer.  He knew Luigi was right.  Despite that, it seemed to him, somewhere in is darkest imaginings, that he was alone, that Philippa had left him, and that Luigi’s heart, whatever he said, was given to another.  I’ve totally screwed up my life, he thought bitterly.  A fuck up.  A failure. 

Luigi reached out brushed a finger across Cody’s lips, softly and gently.  His dark olive black eyes were warm and loving.  He didn’t speak, but all the same, Cody felt better.

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543

As soon as breakfast was over, Jason rang Luigi. 

“Lou, hey, do you want to meet for coffee later?” 

“Lemme just check with Cody.  I’ll ring you back.  He’s at work now.  Let’s say at 5.30 at the Café Novio on Brunswick?”

“Yep.  I’ve got something to tell you.”

“Good? I hope.”

“Good and bad.  Maybe.”

“You’re going back to England?”  Luigi’s tone betrayed his dismay.

“Nah.  The opposite, actually.”

“So what is it?”

“Heh.  You’ll have to wait and see, gayboy.  Give you something to think about.  See you later, sexy.”

Luigi ended the call a little perplexed and worried.

He told Cody about the phone call when Cody got home.  “You’re a bit worried. What is it?” asked Cody.

“Jason wants to meet us.  He says he’s got something to tell us.”

“D’you think it’ll be something bad?”

“He says not, but, well … he’s a friend.  I’d miss him if he left.”

Cody felt the familiar twinges of jealousy and guilt.

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542

“And now to tell the others.”  Jason sighed.  “It’s going to be hard.  Like coming out.  Because I’ve been lying to them.”

“No you haven’t!” Eleanor was indignant.  “You don’t have to tell people everything about yourself!  You’re entitled to private things.  And if you set aside your money because you wanted it to not be significant in your life, then, why should you tell them about it?”

“Well, I did say, when I told them about Brent, that I was rich and that was part of what … so they do know that.  But the title … and all that family history, going back nine hundred years.  It’s … too much.”

“Well, I’ve always thought that business of assessing a family just by its male members was silly.  What about all the ordinary women who married into the family?  There must have been some.  I mean, when you go back far enough, all of us have hundreds of ancestors. You’ve probably got a few peasants in your ancestry! But don’t ignore the power of a title in Australia.  You will be newsworthy.  And some people will be hostile, just because you have a title.  You should be able to use it to get publicity, to persuade people to give your home money.  Anyway, I don’t think they’ll care.  It’s …” she coloured slightly and looked away, ‘it’s not as if they don’t know you, um, intimately.”

It was Jason’s turn to blush.  He cleared his throat.

Lucasta said, “Well, my dear, certainly I have some quite ordinary people in my family tree like the wife of my grandfather who was a dancer from Paris so useful to be able to dance I loved it with your grandfather and that was partly why I learned French you know which I love and I remember her quite well such a pretty elegant woman with a charming accent she used to call me darleeeng when I was little and tell me fairy tales in French but I think there were many who cut her and grandfather because of who she was so cruel and stupid really.  And here I am your grandmother and so proud of you my dear.”

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541

“Will you have enough money for that?”

Jason smiled suddenly.  “Yes.  Much more than enough.”

“You’ll be getting mine when I die, darling,” said Lucasta.

“That could be a hundred years away, grandam!” joked Jason.  “You’re indestructible. Seriously, grandam, I hope it is.”  He reached across the table and took her hand.  “I love you.  And you too, Eleanor.  My honorary grandmother.  I’m so glad I came here to this house the first day I arrived.  You made me feel welcome and at home.  Australia made me feel wanted and liked and accepted, despite being a toff and speaking with a funny accent.”  He swallowed the lump in his throat.  “I just hope my news doesn’t change my friendships with Keith and Esmé and Lou.  Because the money I have won’t be for me—except for airfares to visit you, grand—but for the home.  So I won’t actually be any richer.  Not really.”

“They won’t change,” asserted Eleanor with complete assurance.  “They’re your friends and they love you for you.  As I do.  What’s more, I can help you.”

Jason raised his eyebrows. 

“You can have one of the houses in the terrace.”

“That wouldn’t be fair on you.”  Jason had no idea she owned more than the house they were in.

“I’ll do it in memory of Bart.  And for you.  And anyway, I own the whole terrace.  This was the first house I owned, but when I’d paid off a lot of the mortgage, I bought the others one by one and used the rent to pay off the loans, and now I have more than enough.  I’d like to help.”

Jason just nodded.  He was quite unable to speak.

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540

“When I came here, after Brent …. killed himself, I decided not to use my money, because in the end it was money and fussing about money that killed Brent.  And my selfishness.  So I decided to work for my living and not use any of my inheritance.  But money is like any other weapon—or tool.  It can be used for good.  And if you have money and … um … high birth you have power, power to do good.  And I thought, you know, there’s Keith who was thrown out of home because he was gay, or bi, anyway, and Bart who was driven to his death”—his voice faltered for a moment—“and then Brent, who wasn’t driven out of his home by his parents and was accepted by all the blokes in the cricket club but wasn’t accepted by my … by who I used to think were my friends.  So I’m going to make a difference.  Something to change the world, something to help gay and bisexual and lesbian and trans young people so that they can come to terms with themselves and be happy.”

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