The Memory of Music (O'Neill Trilogy ##) by Olive Collins

Author:Olive Collins [Collins, Olive]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-01-14T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 26

January 1925

Seamus’s death, on the 7th of November 1924, coincided with a general amnesty for acts committed during the Civil War. Several names were bandied about, and she did not dissuade them from suspecting Mr Hartmann. A man bearing his description had been seen in the locality, a Jewish violin dealer. Betty pretended this news added to her grief.

The Free State soldiers formed a guard of honour and fired their guns over the graveside. She acknowledged the hundreds who attended the funeral, her eyes fixed on the future when she would be reunited with Phelim in England. By the graveside she imagined their home, their sense of united freedom that they could move on from troubled Ireland. The darkest period of Irish history was over. And, as the guns were fired, it signified the end of Betty’s darkest period. The horror of the last few years was over for her. At last she could plan for the future.

As a young widow it was assumed she would return to Tipperary immediately.

‘You’re a woman after all,’ Fr Mathew advised. ‘Let your brother take care of the sale of Seamus’s house and business.’

Her mother shared Fr Mathew’s view. In one of her letters she suggested that Betty return to the country immediately and be a good parent to her daughter. Her words were, ‘ Finbar is willing to go to Dublin and take care of matters from now on. Come home and stop your tomfoolery. The little girl needs you. You might need her too – little Isabel will help you through this difficult time.’

One week after Seamus’s burial Betty opened a bank account in her name and deposited most of her hidden money in it. There was enough money to flee to America like Mr Hartmann and begin again. But Betty didn’t want America. She wanted Phelim as they were during the war when he’d sit in her kitchen and dunk his biscuits into his milky tea. He’d been distant in his last letter. Betty understood – a great deal was about to change in both of their lives

– it was a daunting prospect.

With a dogged determination, she tried to clear the wreckage of the past few years. When she thought of Seamus, she was occasionally disturbed by the events of his death but quickly reasoned that the best course of action had been taken. As yet she did not know who the actual assassin was, nor did she want to know. Of course Phelim had played some part in it; he probably had got one of his associates to end Seamus’s life. It need not matter anymore. It was utterly pointless reliving those events. She wanted to start anew.

At night when she was left alone with her own thoughts, she imagined living in London with Phelim, the sounds and smell of his crowded city. The idea of starting again as somebody else’s wife in another country invigorated her. She would continue making money and living in Dublin until a respectable period passed.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.