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Meggie
and
the
priest
had
long
since
disappeared
.
Mary
Carson
sat
down
at
her
desk
heavily
,
drew
another
sheet
of
paper
toward
her
,
and
began
once
more
to
write
.
This
communication
was
not
achieved
with
the
ease
and
fluency
of
the
last
.
Time
and
time
again
she
stopped
to
think
,
then
with
lips
drawn
back
in
a
humorless
grin
,
she
would
continue
.
It
seemed
she
had
a
lot
to
say
,
for
her
words
were
cramped
,
her
lines
very
close
together
,
and
still
she
required
a
second
sheet
.
At
the
end
she
read
what
she
had
put
down
,
placed
all
the
sheets
together
,
folded
them
and
slid
them
into
an
envelope
,
the
back
of
which
she
sealed
with
red
wax
.
*
*
*
Only
Paddy
,
Fee
,
Bob
,
Jack
and
Meggie
were
going
to
the
party
;
Hughie
and
Stuart
were
deputed
to
mind
the
little
ones
,
much
to
their
secret
relief
.
For
once
in
her
life
Mary
Carson
had
opened
her
wallet
wide
enough
for
the
moths
to
fly
out
,
for
everyone
had
new
clothes
,
the
best
Gilly
could
provide
.
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Paddy
,
Bob
and
Jack
were
immobilized
behind
starched
shirt
fronts
,
high
collars
and
white
bow
ties
,
black
tails
,
black
trousers
,
white
waistcoats
.
It
was
going
to
be
a
very
formal
affair
,
white
tie
and
tails
for
the
men
,
sweeping
gowns
for
the
women
.
Fee
's
dress
was
of
crepe
in
a
peculiarly
rich
shade
of
blue-grey
,
and
suited
her
,
falling
to
the
floor
in
soft
folds
,
low
of
neckline
but
tightly
sleeved
to
the
wrists
,
lavishly
beaded
,
much
in
the
style
of
Queen
Mary
.
Like
that
imperious
lady
,
she
had
her
hair
done
high
in
back-sweeping
puffs
,
and
the
Gilly
store
had
produced
an
imitation
pearl
choker
and
earrings
which
would
fool
all
but
a
close
inspection
.
A
magnificent
ostrich-feather
fan
dyed
the
same
color
as
her
gown
completed
the
ensemble
,
not
so
ostentatious
as
it
appeared
at
first
glance
;
the
weather
was
unusually
hot
,
and
at
seven
in
the
evening
it
was
still
well
over
a
hundred
degrees
.
When
Fee
and
Paddy
emerged
from
their
room
;
the
boys
gaped
.
In
all
their
lives
they
had
never
seen
their
parents
so
regally
handsome
,
so
foreign
.
Paddy
looked
his
sixty-one
years
,
but
in
such
a
distinguished
way
he
might
have
been
a
statesman
;
whereas
Fee
seemed
suddenly
ten
years
younger
than
her
forty-eight
,
beautiful
,
vital
,
magically
smiling
.
Jims
and
Patsy
burst
into
shrieking
tears
,
refusing
to
look
at
Mum
and
Daddy
until
they
reverted
to
normal
,
and
in
the
flurry
of
consternation
dignity
was
forgotten
;
Mum
and
Daddy
behaved
as
they
always
did
,
and
soon
the
twins
were
beaming
in
admiration
.
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But
it
was
at
Meggie
everyone
stared
the
longest
.
Perhaps
remembering
her
own
girlhood
,
and
angered
that
all
the
other
young
ladies
invited
had
ordered
their
gowns
from
Sydney
,
the
Gilly
dressmaker
had
put
her
heart
into
Meggie
's
dress
.
It
was
sleeveless
and
had
a
low
,
draped
neckline
;
Fee
had
been
dubious
,
but
Meggie
had
implored
and
the
dressmaker
assured
her
all
the
girls
would
be
wearing
the
same
sort
of
thing
--
did
she
want
her
daughter
laughed
at
for
being
countrified
and
dowdy
?
So
Fee
had
given
in
gracefully
.
Of
crepe
georgette
,
a
heavy
chiffon
,
the
dress
was
only
slightly
fitted
at
the
waist
,
but
sashed
around
the
hips
with
the
same
material
.
It
was
a
dusky
,
pale
pinkish
grey
,
the
color
that
in
those
days
was
called
ashes
of
roses
;
between
them
the
dressmaker
and
Meggie
had
embroidered
the
entire
gown
in
tiny
pink
rosebuds
.
And
Meggie
had
cut
her
hair
in
the
closest
way
she
could
to
the
shingle
creeping
even
through
the
ranks
of
Gilly
girls
.
It
curled
far
too
much
for
fashion
,
of
course
,
but
it
suited
her
better
short
than
long
.
Paddy
opened
his
mouth
to
roar
because
she
was
not
his
little
girl
Meggie
,
but
shut
it
again
with
the
words
unuttered
;
he
had
learned
from
that
scene
in
the
presbytery
with
Frank
long
ago
.
No
,
he
could
n't
keep
her
a
little
girl
forever
;
she
was
a
young
woman
and
shy
of
the
amazing
transformation
her
mirror
had
shown
her
.
Why
make
it
harder
for
the
poor
little
beggar
?