Hugo recognised the sound before he saw the person making it: two quick knocks against the doorframe, followed by a pause too short for anyone to answer. One of his former housemates had always announced himself that way, as though courtesy were important but waiting optional.
Today the man was making his perpetual profession. Hugo, invited as a guest, stood in the familiar corridor and watched him come through the doorway with an expression of joy so unguarded that there was nothing to do but smile back.
“You came.”
“Of course.”
They embraced. The greeting was brief because other people were waiting, and entirely sufficient. Hugo had not come to demonstrate that he was comfortable here or to test whether marriage had changed his understanding of the life he had left. He had come because his friend was choosing something he wanted, and Hugo wanted to witness it.
Lavinia was…
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