Patrick

[charverz.livejournal.com]

Patrick's romantic life provides a lot of scope for speculation.  The canon only provides Ginty, Claudie, and Nicola.  I'll state up front that, of the three, Nicola is obviously the best match, in my opinion.  Claudie is a non-starter, and unless Ginty gets a massive dose of maturity or Patrick goes off the deep end, we can rule Ginty out.

On the other hand, I see other possibilities.  First Rowan, for all that there's an age difference.  They certainly interact well together at the Nativity play in End of Term.  And I can see each providing the other with something each lacks - a romanticism that would be a nice break from Rowan's constant level-headedness, and a practicality that might help Patrick go somewhere in life.

The other, surprisingly enough, is Ann.  She is the only religious Marlow, and surely between low church Anglican and conservative Roman Catholic they could find some common ground. With the Anglican communion having its own turmoil, Ann might decide she doesn't want a woman vicar or blessings of same-sex unions.  One suspects that Antonia Forest would have found today's religious landscape very interesting (and would have been very happy with the new Pope).

Comments

[colne-dsr.livejournal.com]

I could see Patrick marrying Nicola in a marriage of good friends, rather than lovers. Patrick has a duty to marry because of the family tradition; Nicola absolutely loves family traditions and can't fully share in the Marlow one because she's a girl.

Patrick doesn't want the responsibility of a wife like Ginty IMO, so unless he meets someone who sweeps him off his feet, he would be happy with a quiet life and a wife who has no apparent desire to change him.

Nicola, even at 14 and a half, has never had and apparently is not chasing a boyfriend per se, although she is after Patrick as a friend. And I don't necessarily see Nicola as someone who would fall head-over-heels in love with a random stranger; remember that the new man would have to compete with Patrick, the hawks, and the history of Mariot Chase. Lawrie's ambitious for better things; Nicola's happy with what she's got, and I reckon given the choice between a guaranteed comfortable life with Patrick, or the risk involved in marrying anyone else, she'd go with Patrick.

Patrick and Nicola

[charverz.livejournal.com]

I see it as something that develops. Nicola is IMO on the verge of discovering romance. I think she saw Ginty and Peter, and wonders if maybe there isn't something in it, as long as it's her and not Ginty.

She's got no religious convictions, so could easily fit in with Patrick and probably after 5-10 years of marriage becoming a Catholic [I've instructed the convert class at our church for many years, and it is a common scenario].

[antfan.livejournal.com]

No no! Nicola's going to sail round the world! please don't tie her down with PAtrick.

[charverz.livejournal.com]

Maybe she'll take Patrick along - teach him something useful. They don't have to settle down right away, after all.

[legionseagle (from livejournal.com)]

It doesn't count as a single-hander if you have anyone else aboard, with the possible exception of a cat.