“Natch”
All the Old Knives“Natch” is Celia Favreau’s shorthand for “naturally,” introduced as a teasing bit of contemporary slang during dinner with Henry Pelham. Henry later repeats the word while coughing and feeling his throat burn; the joke’s return in that painful moment links their earlier banter to the scene’s ominous close.
Meaning and First Use
After the waiter pours more wine, Celia raises her glass. Henry proposes a toast “To empty restaurants, the better for excellent service.” Celia answers, “Natch.” When Henry asks what she means, she explains that it is what the “cool kids” are saying, short for “naturally.” He calls the expression ridiculous, and she tells him, “You need to visit home more often.” The exchange makes the word a small vehicle for teasing: Celia treats Henry’s unfamiliarity with the slang as evidence that he is out of touch.
The casual exchange occurs amid a dinner that has reopened discussion of a tragedy from half a decade earlier. Henry wonders whether Celia is enjoying their time together and whether an old attraction is returning. Against that uncertainty, “Natch” gives their conversation an easy, familiar rhythm, without resolving what either of them feels.
Return at the Restaurant
Later, as Henry coughs and his throat burns, he says, “Natch.” The word recalls the earlier dinner exchange, but the circumstances have changed: its first use was Celia’s playful answer to a toast; now Henry repeats it in a scene of physical distress. The other person asks, “What?” and the passage ends with the lights seeming to dim, though Henry allows that this may be happening only to him.
The recurrence makes the expression more than a remembered joke. A word once used to signal shared ease comes back as a fragment of speech at a moment when Henry is weakened and the restaurant scene is closing around him. Celia’s earlier explanation gives the final repetition its meaning, while the unanswered “What?” leaves the echo without a reply.
