Hello:<>Do you feel that:
They had placed a weapon in his hands. He smiled to himself at the thought of their faces when he explained the alternatives tomorrow.
[Tom Sharpe, Porterhouse Blue, p. 54]
is equivalent with:
They had placed a weapon in his hands. He smiled to himself at the thought of their faces when he would explain/would have explained the alternatives tomorrow.
or not?
And, as a result, do you feel that the explained
in the original is an indicative or a past subjunctive, where the past
subjunctive is practically identical with the past indicative, expect
for be, where it is were:
==
Past subjunctive
I owned
he/she/it owned
we/you/they owned
Subjunctive mood
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subjunctive_mood
=====
Thank you.