‘They are. She had a lucky escape when that Phelan one broke off their engagement.’ Noreen could never keep the righteousness from her voice when she breathed that man’s name. It raised her ire to think of him casting her beautiful niece aside the way he had and it was a good job he’d never shown his face in Claredoncally.
Angela’s cheeks burned hot with two red blotches and her words tumbled out before she could stop them. ‘Well, he hardly had any choice not after what Emer did. I’m sorry, Mrs Grady, but I don’t think that’s a fair comment.’
Noreen was taken aback by the girl’s strong reaction. Her pulse quickened the way it always did when she knew things could go one of two ways. She could leave the conversation there and pretend she’d never met up with Angela. She could carry on happily about her business or, she could push further and find out something instinct was telling her she wouldn’t want to hear. She and Rosamunde had assumed Phelan had gotten cold feet and Emer had never given them reason to think otherwise but here was Angela alluding to Emer being the one at fault. She couldn’t help herself, the plaster had to be ripped off now. ‘And what do you mean by that?’
‘Nothing.’ Angela wished she’d kept her mouth shut. ‘I shouldn’t have said anything. It’s just, well it’s not fair on Phelan you thinking he’s faithless. I’d best be on my way or I’ll be late.’ She made to walk away.
Noreen put her hand on Angela’s forearm, stopping her. ‘Please, Angela, will you tell me what Emer did?’
Angela hesitated. There was a pleading look on Mrs Grady’s face. She didn’t know why she was so surprised Emer hadn’t told her family the truth of what had happened with Phelan. She’d proven she wasn’t to be trusted when she left Dublin in disgrace. Sure, she’d left her in the lurch having to cover her share of the rent, upping and leaving without a word of notice the way she did. Angela was a firm believer in second chances though, and she’d hoped Emer might have changed her ways. She’d hoped this because, despite her sneaky, dishonest streak, she was also brilliant fun and they’d had lots of laughs together in Dublin. She missed her old friend but not enough to pick up where they’d left off, besides which, she had a feeling Emer wouldn’t thank her for visiting her in Claredoncally.
Angela hadn’t a clue why she’d done what she’d done either, because if she was short of money, she’d only had to ask and Phelan would have helped her. Come to that she would have helped her. But she’d never even hinted at having money problems. She’d simply helped herself to what wasn’t hers and when she got caught, she’d been tearful and apologetic, pleading with Phelan not to break things off. She’d only taken the extra she was due, she’d cried. She worked hard and deserved more than the paltry sum she was paid at the end of each week. Angela had heard all of this from where she was perched on the edge of her bed in their room. She’d stared unseeingly at the wallpaper with its faded flowers and patch of damp in the corner, biting her thumbnail in disbelief as Emer’s and Phelan’s voices carried up the stairs from the hallway where they stood. He’d only raised his voice the once, when Emer refused to give him back the ring he’d proposed to her with. ‘It belonged to my grandmother and you’re not taking that from me too!’ he’d shouted, and Angela had blanched picturing the scene below. The last thing she heard him say before the door banged shut behind him was, ‘You’re not the girl I thought you were.’
Emer had refused to talk to her about what had transpired but Angela had seen the white band on her finger, left behind by the ring. The story of Emer thieving from her employers, her fiancé’s parents no less, had filtered through their circle of friends and when she found herself ostracised, she’d packed her bags. Angela had arrived home from work to a note Emer had scrawled to say she couldn’t afford to stay in Dublin and had gone back to Claredoncally to stay with family.
‘Are you sure you want to know?’ she asked Mrs Grady. She’d only met Emer’s aunt and uncle the once but she’d seen the way they fussed over their niece and their eagerness to meet her friend. They were good people and if Emer was up to her old tricks then her poor aunt deserved to know what she was capable of, especially as she was working for her in their shop these days. She chewed her bottom lip, still uncertain she wanted to be the one to tell the sorry tale.
Noreen bobbed her head, willing the girl to spit it out whatever it was. Sure, she was beginning to wonder from the drama of it all if it was murder Emer was after committing.
‘Alright then. I’m sorry, Mrs Grady, but Emer was fiddling the books at the factory. Stealing to put it plainly. She was lucky the family didn’t press charges when she got caught out, but you can see why Phelan had to break their engagement off. Even if he could have found a way to get past what she’d done, his family couldn’t. He was heartbroken.’ Her face flashed with sympathy for Emer’s ex-fiancé. Noreen stood there feeling a little other worldly and something else. It took her a moment to work out what it was. Foolish, that was how she felt. A naïve and foolish woman. She was relieved when Angela announced, ‘I’ve got to get back to work. I thought you should know in case, well, I
