Winter Song (54 page)

Peter made no reply. He seemed quite ignorant of her movement, unaware that she had left the table, and was already standing by the door, waiting for him to follow.

He gave no sign, but remained motionless, his head turned upwards. Miss Kerrigan had already begun to clear the table. As she did so she became aware of a strange thing. The corners of her beautiful white tablecloth were now crushed in the biggest pair of hands she had ever seen. She removed the cups, the plates, the pot.

“I'll be away to your aunt now, sir,” she said, and left him, and the crushed cloth, and the silent room. She went out so quietly that it seemed she had passed clean through the door like a wraith. Peter sat on, still holding on to the cloth, still looking upwards, and thought nothing, and felt nothing. He remained motionless. The light from the fire threw his shadow clear upon the opposite wall, but Miss Kerrigan, now joined in her whispered chatter with Miss Mangan, would never have recognised it, who had seen so many shadows in her time.

When she returned to the room it was not to see her visitor, nor to ask him if he would like just another cup of tea before he departed. She had forgotten some knitting left on a chair. The room was empty and the man was gone, the cloth ends piled and rumpled where he had let them fall, and she at once started to straighten it out. She did not miss the man; she had long since forgotten him.

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About the Author

James Hanley (1897–1985) was born in Liverpool, England, to an Irish Catholic family. He spent time in the merchant navy and served with the Canadian Infantry during World War I. From 1930 to 1981 Hanley published forty-eight books, including the novels
Boy, The Furys, The Ocean, Another World, and Hollow Sea
. He penned plays for radio, television, and theater and published a work of nonfiction,
Grey Children
, on the plight of coal miners. Hanley died in London but was buried in Wales, the setting for many of his works.

All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

copyright © 1950 by Liam Hanley

Cover design by Jamie Keenan

ISBN: 978-1-5040-0507-4

This edition published in 2015 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.

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New York, NY 10014

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