Then she let her arms fall and turned away, looking as though some sadness had clouded her joy.
"Poor Terence!" she said.
There was the same thought between them, but they left it unspoken. She had chosen Shawn O'Gara in her own heart even while she was expected to marry Terence Comerford.
"Why do you talk of Terence now?" he asked.
"I have had a letter from Aunt Grace after all these years." She held the letter towards him.
"She has forgiven you?" he asked, making no movement to take the letter.
"She is coming back to Inch. She writes that Stella, her adopted daughter, is growing up. She has forgiven us. She is pleased that we named our son after poor Terence. You remember you were rather opposed to it, Shawn."
"I did not wish to be reminded of the loss of my friend at every moment," he said. "The tragedy was too new."
Still he showed no indication of taking the letter from her hand.
"Read it to me," he said, in his weary voice. "I wonder how Stella will like Inch after Italy. There is so much rain and cloud. One has to be born to it to like it."