Oh, this really was war. First, the casual rebuff of anything to do with affection in a match: because of course his mother was more concerned with societal advantage than her children’s happiness.
Then, the talk of work: as if Savino’s decision to work up from the lowest rungs had not been entirely deliberate, a calculated ploy to appear as ineligible and unassuming as any young man could; as if her comments of starving in a garret did anything but make him bristle.
And next, with only the briefest pause for breath as the food came in, her threat of making him a traditional arrangement. Savino had always supposed he was quite good at keeping his temper in check, that he could restrain himself no matter the circumstances, but his mother was doing a stellar job today of fraying his patience. His plan might have been to duck and evade and soothe her worries with vague appeasements as usual, but – suddenly he was no longer in the mood to placate her.
“I see,” he said coolly, to her overt threats, and began to cut up the food on his plate with a degree more vehemence than was required. “I was actually thinking of quitting the company,” he announced lightly, taking a sip of wine to settle an awful impulse to smile. “To take up my Divination research full time.”
Then, the talk of work: as if Savino’s decision to work up from the lowest rungs had not been entirely deliberate, a calculated ploy to appear as ineligible and unassuming as any young man could; as if her comments of starving in a garret did anything but make him bristle.
And next, with only the briefest pause for breath as the food came in, her threat of making him a traditional arrangement. Savino had always supposed he was quite good at keeping his temper in check, that he could restrain himself no matter the circumstances, but his mother was doing a stellar job today of fraying his patience. His plan might have been to duck and evade and soothe her worries with vague appeasements as usual, but – suddenly he was no longer in the mood to placate her.
“I see,” he said coolly, to her overt threats, and began to cut up the food on his plate with a degree more vehemence than was required. “I was actually thinking of quitting the company,” he announced lightly, taking a sip of wine to settle an awful impulse to smile. “To take up my Divination research full time.”
