This story has a couple of different secrets that involve a few different characters. The relationship between the old and young man and how Gail originally planed on getting Will back. I think the most interesting secret was how did Will feel about Gail by the end of the story pg 181.
I think that Wills insecurities he shares with Mrs. Thornaby about the feeling of not belonging are very similar to Gails insecurities that motivated her to sell her store and move away. Will writes to Mrs. Thornaby in one of his letters talking about his wife and her friends “I cannot be one of them. I must say they saw this before I did.”. Both characters seem to have a hole in their lives since they broke up. Will is just now learning that Sandy might not be the right person for him while Gail has had an empty feeling ever since Will left. While Gail clearly still has feelings for Will; I believe though it is never clearly stated that Will also has feelings for Gail.
I think that Wills feelings for Gail are shown in the letters he writes to Mrs. Thornaby. Though the argument could be made that the letters were written out of loneliness like Will said, I think that a part of him liked Mrs. Thornabys personality and that’s what possessed him to go meet her in person. Even after he found out she was dead he still wanted to meet the person he was really writing to. That says to me that he did in fact have at least some interest in this person who turned out to be Gail.
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I agree that the reader nevers finds what how Will feels about Gail. We know that Gail wants Will back since she followed him to Australia to see him. The only time the reader sees how Will feels is when he writes his letters to Ms. Thornaby. In his letters you can tell that he is lonely and can even go as far to say maybe he regrets leaving Gail. I only say that because the way he talks about his young wife and how she is always busy and her friends are very different from him. It's almost as if at first he wants to talk to someone about his new wife as a way for him to get out how he feels about leaving Gail. An example of Will's letters that shows that he doesn't fit in with his new wife and her friends is on page 181. "I cannot be one of them. I must say that they saw this before I did. It must be because I am woozy with jet lag afyer that horrendous flight that I can face up to this fact and that I write it down in a letter to someone like you who has her own troubles and quite correctly has indicated she doesn't want to be bothered with mine."
I disagree that Wills feelings for or because of Gail arent shown; i think they are presented through his unhappiness with his current wife who is younger and distant to him. His venting letter to basically a stranger shows the level of angst he has because of this situation. We are given Gails feelings for him and the readers are led to believe that he feels this (lonliness) way because he is comparing his new wife to Gail, the only other opposite sex relationship of his we are emminantly concerned with in the plot.
I also disagree that Will's feelings aren't shown by the end. I think it's kind of obvious because of his actions. As mentioned before he did vent in his letter to someone that he thought was his relative, but was still a stranger, about his marriage. Also when she saw him in the crowd as she got into the ambulance with the old man. Finally, with the note he left her about knowing it was her. For the last two, he could've just ignored her and went about his life like nothing, but instead he chose to reveal himself to her and show her that he was onto her. I think in some ways that shows that he still has feelings for her and he may not be able to let go of those feelings yet
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