My brother and Mr. Darcy

My cat Mr. Darcy doesn't like anybody except John and me, and sometimes he's dubious about even us. Guests to our house usually only catch a glimpse of his backside disappearing down the stairs. But strangely, when my brother Brian and his wife Wendy arrived for a visit Wednesday night, something changed. Mr. Darcy hung around the living room where we were talking, then started eyeing the couch where Brian, Wendy and I were sitting. That longing glance is his usual precursor to jumping up for a snuggle. It took awhile, but finally he made the big leap, and settled into a spot between Brian and me. Unheard of! He sat next to a virtual stranger, allowed that stranger to pet him, then snoozed against the stranger's leg!

Mom always said that when Brian was a little boy, he watched over his younger sisters with an anxious and careful eye. "He was so concerned about you all," she would say. In later years, I saw how he watched over his own children like that. I wonder whether Mr. Darcy senses something about Brian -- an innate gentleness, perhaps -- that makes it feel safe for him to leap up where he has never leapt before? Brian and Wendy are more dog people than cat people, but they bring with them a low-key kindness that may be as attractive to cats as to their fellow human beings!

My brother Brian fixes his bike on the front boulevard on Thursday.

Brian's new fan Mr. Darcy (by the hedge) looks on as bike-fixing proceeds. 

Wendy makes supper for us all. What a guest!