Maire's Story

Chapter 19 and 20

C H A P T E R   N I N E T E E N

A few mornings later, Monique was experimenting with some colours for a new painting when a knock on the front door disrupted her concentration.

"What is it?" she muttered with mild exasperation. "Can't a women get any work done around here without being interrupted?"

She sighed, stripped off her gloves and went downstairs. At the door she peered through the finder and let out a gasp. It was Tommy Fitzpatrick and, judging by the envelope in his hand, he was there in his position as mailman.

Monique turned away and leaned against the door to gather her thoughts. Ever since Rory had launched his attempt to establish a tutorship council, she approached the mail with trepidation — sometimes waiting until Maire arrived home from school, then sending her out to empty the mailbox. Now the mail was standing on her verandah, demanding to come in.

Stay calm, Monique, she thought. What could Tommy possibly have that could be any worse than what he delivered from Rory?

Tommy knocked again, and Monique responded by gathering up her courage and opening the door.

"Good morning," she welcomed stiffly.

"Ah, hello Miss Julien," Tommy said. "Sorry to bother you and all, but this special delivery envelope has to be signed for."

"Oh, no problem." She walked into the kitchen, found a pen, returned and scrawled her autograph on the appropriate line.

"Thanks very much," Tommy said, handing her the envelope and leaving without another word.

Monique closed the door and stared at it. The return address was Rory's lawyer, and that made her heart leap into her throat.

"I...I can't open it," she gasped, collapsing into the living room couch and letting the envelope fall to the ground.

She was still sitting there 10 minutes later when the phone rang. It was Delores and the moment she heard Monique's vague, distracted greeting, she knew something was up.

"It's the mail," Monique said, answering Delores's query. "Something arrived from Rory Fallon's lawyer."

"Really? What?"

"I don't know. I haven't opened it yet."

"What? Why not?"

"I'm just too frightened, Delores. This man has caused us so much heartache that I can't stand any more."

"Allright. I'll come over and open it."

When Delores arrived, Monique, her face etched in grateful embarrassment, let her in and handed over the envelope.

"I'm so ashamed of myself," she admitted. "Imagine, letting a man upset me so much."

Delores waved this aside and ripped off a corner, then tore into the envelope and yanked out the papers with no-nonsense urgency.

She scanned the documents for a moment, then a smile slowly lit up her face.

"What? What is it?' Monique demanded.

"It's over. It's all over," Delores said, letting out a sigh of relief. "This is a copy of a document sent by Rory's lawyer to your lawyer saying he — Rory, I mean — is dropping his application to establish a tutorship council."

"Really?!" Monique snatched the papers and looked them over. Her lips moved silently as she read the crucial paragraphs.

"Oh...oh...oh. It's true. It's true..."