The relationship between Charles and Sebastian in Brideshead Revisited

Part 1 (of 3) in Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited (1945) takes us through the 2nd year at Oxford, as the narrator, Charles Ryder, observes the gradual deterioration of his friend Sebastian Marchmain. At the outset of the novel the narrator is taken in by the witty and idiosyncratic and wealthy set of intellectuals and aesthetes, and, as noted in previous post, it looked as if he was squandering his intelligence and his prospects through too much drinking, lounging, spouting off, and social-climbing, but by the 2nd year Charles has his feet back on the ground so to speak, and seems to mature - and by the end he tells his father he wants to leave Oxford to pursue a serious career as a an artist/painter - and my thought is, good for you, you're focused on your passion and you have decided to pursue your love of painting wherever it may lead. But set against this is the disintegration of Sebastian, who plunges into alcoholism and depression, ruining his prospects at Oxford and falling back upon the resources of his wealthy family. It's impossible to read this novel today and not think about the extent that homosexuality and homoerotics are part of the narrative. As everyone knows there was (and is?) a lot of homosexual behavior at the British boarding schools, and that's something that the main characters in this novel would have experienced, but Waugh is coy (or discrete?) about mentioning homosexuality explicitly. It's possible, but probably incorrect, to read Charles's relationship with Sebastian as just a male friendship; Waugh includes a few hints that the two young men were in love - never explictly stated (at least in the first third of the novel) but seemingly understood, especially by Sebastian's father's new wife, who tells Charles that she understands the nature of his friendship. The sad this is that the need to be secretive about their love is no doubt part of what drives Sebastian into drinking and depression; Charles, for some reason, seems to have more resources - even though (or maybe because?) his widowed father is at best uninterested in Charles's life and at worst neglectful and self-centered. Charles, unlike Sebastian, has an independent spirit and drive for success, probably because he needs that in order to survive; Sebastian's life is too easy, or at least it would seem so to others.