Her mother wasn’t listening. She was telling a story about Hugh, a strained jollity to her voice. Nina’s little brother was no longer so little. To her dad’s delight, he’d secured a place to study medicine. Hugh’s chosen college was less to his liking. He was in Galway, a city her dad dismissed as ‘the capital of piss-artistry’. Nina was relieved to hear the focus shift to Hugh. For a few minutes, she muttered and clucked in agreement.

‘See you soon, Mam,’ she said.

In truth, she didn’t know when she’d be able to face her family again.

In November, Julian returned to Kilmitten. That week, a letter with a French stamp arrived. The writing was instantly familiar. Nina had been reading it all her life. Slowly, she opened the envelope and removed the sheets of hotel notepaper.

Nina,

I gather you’ve been calling me. By now, you must have worked out that I don’t want to talk to you. I wasn’t sure whether to write, but we were friends for a long time, so in the end I decided I should let you know how I feel.

Unless you’ve become a completely different person, I think you’ll understand why I’m so worked up. The way you treated Tom, lovely loyal Tom, was terrible. If you no longer loved him, you had to break up. But the way you did it baffles me. You, more than anyone else, know how Tom was affected by Fr Galvin’s death. For the two of us, it’s an unusual childhood memory. For him, it’s much more. It changed his life. Despite this, you chose to take up with a guy who’s determined to drag everybody in Kilmitten back to that time.

I haven’t read the newspaper article – thankfully, the Sunday Herald doesn’t travel as far as Paris or London - but Mam told me about it. She said that even though Flan tried to put a brave face on things, he was very upset. As you’re aware, this should be a brilliant time for Mam and Flan. Both have had to endure more hardship and loneliness than you could ever imagine, and finally they’ve found happiness. I hope you appreciate the hurt that article caused. They’re going ahead with their plan to get married in the spring. I’m thrilled for them. If I were you, I wouldn’t expect an invitation.