Small Island: Chapter 7: Hortense Summary & Analysis

Hortense and Gilbert stand in a church, half-listening as the minister lectures them about embarking on married life together. When he asks how long they’ve known each other, Gilbert equivocates, then winks at Hortense.

The Andersons are shocked when Hortense introduces Gilbert to them as her fiancé, and when she admits they’ve only known each other for five days. However, they accept the unconventional marriage and Mrs. Anderson even hugs Hortense.

Even after the fallout with Celia, Gilbert and Hortense have remained friends. He’s intensely restless and consumed with the desire to return to England, where he says “opportunity ripened […] as abundant as fruit on Jamaican trees.” However, he’s lost all his money investing in his cousin’s failed beekeeping business, so he can’t buy a ticket.

One day, Gilbert sees an article about the Empire Windrush, a ship leaving for England in a month. He tells Hortense about it, despondent that he can’t pay for his passage. However, Hortense has been saving prudently for years, and she offers to lend him the money if he marries her and sends for her once he’s established. Gilbert doesn’t pretend for a minute that he loves Hortense, but he decides it’s the only way to get to England. When he asks her formally to marry him, they shake hands as if to celebrate a “business deal.”

Hortense spends her time daydreaming about life in England. She imagines she’ll have a modest but proper house with a lovely dining room, where she’ll serve English meals and sip tea. When she goes shopping, the storekeepers will greet her politely in perfect English.

The only guests at the wedding are the Andersons, who ask several times where Celia is. Afterwards, the Andersons host a celebratory dinner; Hortense is still disgusted by their manners, but Gilbert gets along with them well and romps with the little boys.

When the new couple is finally alone in Hortense’s room, Gilbert tries to kiss Hortense and undress her, but she’s frightened and startled to see him naked. She screams at him to stay away from her; frightened that she’ll wake everyone up and embarrass them both, Gilbert hastily puts his clothes on and agrees to sleep on the floor. The next day, he sails for England.