[{"node":{"title":"Hanna259","Collections":"Part Three","Contributor":"Linen Hall Library","Coverage":"1951","Creator":"Linen Hall Library","Date":"Thursday, April 7, 2016","Format":"TIFF","Identifier":"Hanna259","Item Description":"Manuscript","Keywords":"Bitterness, Letters","Language":"English","Path":"https://www.niliteraryarchive.com/content/hanna259","Publisher":"Linen Hall Library","Relation":"Linen Hall Library","Rights":"Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike CC BY-NC-SA","Scanned image":{"src":"https://www.niliteraryarchive.com/sites/default/files/Hanna259_0.jpg","alt":""},"Source":"LHL Archive","Transcript":"\ufeff252\n\nBt a lifelong preoccupation with other peoples\nlives is not easily put aside, and that evening she\ndiscussed the future in whispers with Joe and Martha.\nIf the youth revealed some bitterness, Sarah accepted\nit quitely, and when he warned her that he would never\nconsider opening a shop or setting up a home anywhere\nin the townlands, she cried out \"No, no! My god, ye\ncould never do that now!\" with so much anger and\ndistress, that Skillen, taken aback, mumbled something\nabout having made other arrangements. In fact, he had\ncome prepared for some shrewd and calculated plan on\nSarah\u2019s part, but this time she had none to offer;\nnothing but an anxious and pathetic interest in what\nthe two young people were going to do after they were\nmarried.\n\n\"After we're married,\" said Joe, \"we're going to\nstart up in Belfast. I could\u2019ve rented a shop on the\nNewtownards Koad six months ago, and I know it\u2019s still\nthere for the asking.\" He paused, but Sarah said\nnothing, so he continued: \"It\u2019s a good stand, and with\nthe shipyards throwing a bit o\u2019 work this weather, the\npeople have money among their fingers.\"\n\n\"Aye\" said Sarah nodding, \"that would be a wise\nmove.\" She hesitated and then added: \"The money I\noffered ye is still there for ye.\" When Joe bridled,\nshe waved him aside with some of her old impatience.\n\"Maybe you dont want it, but it\u2019s Martha\u2019s due,\" and the\nyoung man was silent.\n\nAt any other time Sarah would have got a sardonic\npleasure from the letters that trickled in after Frank\u2019s\ndeath. Many had been laboured out by neighbours who\nwould not have set a foot in Rathard but for the funeral.\nNow a few of the men appeared under the rowan trees, as\nsombre and stiff as their Sabbath clothes, refused\nrefreshment, waited silently until the coffin appeared,\n","Type":"Text"}}]