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Summary
Part II: October 5, 1957 – October 19, 1957
October 5, 1957
Patrick wakes up with a hangover, having gone to the Argyle Hotel the previous night, a spot frequented by gay men. When a dark-haired young man enters the bar, Patrick thinks how nice it would be to be there with Tom, although Tom is too sensible to come to a place like the Argyle. After Patrick buys the young man a drink, they agree to leave separately and meet at the Black Lion cottage. On his way there, Patrick neglects to make sure that he was safe to approach another gay establishment, and a man crashes into him and calls him a gay slur. He had considered going into the Black Lion anyway, but his heart took on the familiar ectopic beat and he decides to go home instead. Nevertheless, Patrick is pleased that for the first time since losing Michael, he had gone to the Argyle and the Black Lion.
October 8, 1957
Tom arrives for his portrait sitting in street clothes and changes into his uniform. At first, Patrick can hardly manage to look at him, but eventually the habits of work take over and he draws. While Patrick sketches, Tom talks about his love of art and music, determined to be his own man despite the disapproval of his peers. He assumes Patrick must have been supported in these interests because he is from a higher social class, but Patrick remembers his disapproving father and schoolmaster. Patrick wants badly to touch Tom but does not, and they agree to meet again next week.
October 13, 1957
On Sunday, Patrick takes the train to visit his mother. Nina, his mother’s housekeeper, tells him that his mother is losing her vision and that he should visit more often. When he finds his mother dozing in the conservatory, she is happy to see him and dismissive of his concern for her health, saying the doctor has already chalked up her episodes to old age. They drink wine, and he tells her stories about his life.
October 14, 1957
Houghton takes Patrick to lunch. He reveals that Jackie told him about the portrait project and scolds Patrick for ignoring protocol. As they are walking down the street, the Duchess of Argyle, a male waiter Patrick recognizes from the bar, passes them in tight clothes and lipstick. Someone calls the Duchess a gay slur and others laugh, and Patrick feels an urge to run to the Duchess and tell him how brave he is. Back at the office, Patrick calls Jackie in to scold her for telling Houghton about the portrait project. She apologizes before he mentions it, telling him that Houghton comes into the office to flirt with her after Patrick leaves. At home, Patrick remembers Michael’s landlady, whom Patrick had thought was happy to let Michael live his life in peace. However, Michael began receiving blackmail letters threatening to out him as gay, and within two months, he killed himself. The landlady attended his funeral wearing expensive-looking furs.
October 15, 1957
Patrick is writing his mother a letter inviting her to come live in Brighton when Tom arrives for his second portrait sitting. After Patrick draws him, Tom gets Patrick to try on his uniform. As they sit on the sofa, Tom touches Patrick’s neck, cradling it in his hand. Patrick turns off the light and tells Tom not to speak. They have sex, and afterwards, Tom asks if he should not come to Patrick’s again. When Patrick says he should if he wants to, Tom answers that it isn’t that simple and leaves, slamming the door.
October 19, 1957
Patrick spends the week remembering Tom’s response to his touch and speculating on what he might be thinking or feeling. He imagines he is the first man to touch Tom and wonders if Tom still thinks, as Patrick once did, that he can be cured of his attraction to men. Patrick wonders how scared Tom may be despite his apparent confidence.
Analysis
The Argyle Hotel functions as a respite for Patrick and other gay men, representing the possibility of a world where they are free to live openly. The atmosphere is one of welcoming beauty, with warm fires, fresh flowers, and a pianist playing jazz. In a time and place where same-sex attraction is punished socially and legally, secrecy is necessary for Patrick’s safety. Even in the safe haven of the Argyle, he uses a fake name. The men at the Argyle watch each other openly, and Patrick takes pride in his appearance there. While the respectable world outside treats gay men as worthy of punishment and contempt, at the Argyle they are worthy of kindness in gracious surroundings. The Argyle is able to exist by maintaining a discreet exterior, only bearing a sign with its name, though Patrick still alludes to the possibility that the police could raid the place. .
The scene where Patrick and his supervisor, Houghton, encounter the Duchess of Argyle on the street provides a striking example of the balancing act between personal pride and social acceptance. All three men in the scene fail, in one way or another, to meet their society’s expectations regarding gender and sexuality. Houghton appears to be the ultimate in straight respectability. He is a family man, accomplished in his career, devoted to upholding the traditional practices of the museum, and he is also a member of the Rotary Club, an organization for business and community leaders in nearby affluent Hove. However, Patrick has heard rumors that he was once part of the gay community in college. Houghton, who has chosen to conform himself to social convention, expresses disgust for the Duchess of Argyle, a man who rejects social expectations for his gender by wearing makeup and flamboyant clothes in public. Meanwhile, Patrick attempts at this point in the novel to find a middle ground, accepting his desires without inward shame but still adhering outwardly to his expected role as a man.
The blackmail letters Patrick’s deceased lover Michael receives are a reminder of the constant threat to gay men in a time and place where gay desire is outlawed. The danger of discovery to men like Patrick is not limited to the police and the legal system. Being gay in that social context also leaves them vulnerable to blackmail by everyday people, including neighbors. In this way, the legal system effectively sets up gay people as targets of the population in general, since being publicly revealed as gay can result in losing all social status, including employment and housing and even being sent to prison. While Patrick tells Michael not to pay the blackmailer, he knows there is no real choice or way out for Michael, who ultimately commits suicide because of the letters. The likelihood that Michael’s apparently tolerant and accepting landlady was also his blackmailer underscores that threat exists all around them. Patrick thinks of the landlady immediately after learning that Jackie, his assistant, has mentioned Tom to Houghton. Here, the text implies that Patrick is wary of even apparently friendly and trustworthy people in his life, suggesting an atmosphere of perpetual danger.
Patrick’s visit to his mother underscores the novel’s interest in questions of loyalty. Although Patrick dislikes coming to the house, he is comfortable and happy once there. Nina, his mother’s housekeeper, is a loyal companion to his mother and also cares for Patrick, welcoming him and even remembering how he likes his breakfast. Patrick’s recollections of his father’s infidelities also provide an example of his loyalty to his mother. Although his mother says nothing about her husband kissing the neighbor, Mrs. Drewitt, a young Patrick responds to the sight of his mother being forced to have a polite conversation with Mrs. Drewitt by urinating on the wall, expressing the anger that his mother cannot. His mother, in turn, loves him unconditionally. She welcomes his stories about his wild life. Most importantly, she accepts his sexuality, a rare gift in this place and time, never asking about girlfriends and telling those who do ask simply that Patrick “isn’t built that way.” This suggests that part of Patrick’s loyalty is born out of the rare and enduring gift from his mother: unconditional love.
