Our Evenings

Content Warning: The section of the guide includes discussion of racism and antigay bias.

The following morning, Elise gives Dave some lines from Agamemnon to recite. They serve as a cue for her to recite some of her part. Dave is excited by the opportunity, and then he gets a chance to recite some passages from Twelfth Night. Elise plays along, and Mark chimes in too; it seems that everyone knows the famous passages. Elise praises Dave’s recitation, saying that he knows how to project his voice.

Mark drives Dave home, and his life returns to its normal routine. His mother, Avril, is a dressmaker; she introduces Dave to her new client, Mrs. Esme Croft. Dave and his mother take an evening walk through the town and up to Ansell’s Farm. On a narrow path, an old woman walking in the opposite direction passes them but greets them only frostily, and Dave and his mother both feel the insult.

Later, Dave recalls that his mother has occasionally talked about his father as a clever man who knew a lot about politics. She met him when she was working as a typist in Burma just after World War II.