Tom
Let this be the end of it now. Let this be the last sadness that ever passes between us.
Let’s get over this as quickly as we can, so we can go back down to the field and enjoy ourselves.
He can tell me I’m not like the other men in Ballycrea, and I can gather the courage to recite a poem while we work.
Let us always work the land together. Living in an everlasting afternoon.
‘You were right, Bill. About Anna.’
There’s a lot of men wouldn’t dare cry in front of people. Well, if I could cry now, I would love to. At present, I’m afraid, I can’t feel a single thing.
‘I brought her to the convent back in Cork. We’ll go and see her when she’s settled.’
His face softens, and he reaches out, puts a hand on my knee and squeezes it.
‘You did the right thing, Tom. They’ll sort her out with what she needs. I was half thinking you’d put her in one of them lunatic asylums. Frightening places.’
I did the right thing. My God. I will let his voice echo around in my mind forever.
I did the right thing.
I did the right thing.
I did the right thing.
I did the right thing.
Betty comes through the kitchen with bedsheets in her arms, making up the spare room. She pauses, wanting to say something to me, but moves on. That woman doesn’t look at me right anymore.