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“He’s rarely here anymore,” Nora pointed out. “He lives in Belfast when he’s at the university. And in summer he always seems to be away somewhere.”
“He’s in Paris at the moment. He sent me a postcard with lace on it and a pretty girl’s picture. Not the tower or the arch that Paris is famous for, but a pretty girl with a parasol.”
“Is he still one of your secret admirers then?” Nora asked, smiling.
“Not any more. He has too many young society ladies in Belfast to pick and choose from. Besides,” Caitlin added, “I’m too old for him. He’s looking at seventeen-and eighteen-year-old virgins now.”
Caitlin used the word “virgins” only to shock Nora, which it did. Caitlin knew that Clifford himself was no virgin for she was the one who had taken his virginity away. She would never forget that day in the barn. Clifford was only fifteen but already he was slicking his hair back and wearing bow ties. He was encouraging a moustache at the time and darkening the hair on his lip with charcoal. He tried to give the impression of being a man of the world and even attempted to seduce Caitlin who was five years his senior.
“The greatest surprise of Clifford Hamilton’s young life was when he realised that I was willing to give him what he wanted,” Caitlin once told Michael. “I led him to the hay, and he didn’t know what to do. That took him down a peg.”
Caitlin smiled at the memory. Tumbling around in the hay with young Clifford Hamilton had actually been a lot of fun once the awkward primary stages were over. The memory was a happy one for Caitlin, perhaps even for Clifford too, but mainly because of something quite unexpected. Liam Dooley had discovered them. Liam had come looking for straw for a palliasse and found Clifford lying on top of Caitlin, panting heavily after his exertions. Liam had leapt upon him, pummelled his back and tried to pull him away from Caitlin, all the while shouting, “Rapist, rapist, filthy, disgusting pig.” Caitlin could not move for laughing. She still laughed when she thought about it. She was smiling now and had to keep her face averted from Nora under the pretence of examining the back of the Hamiltons’ house.
Liam never forgave Clifford for what he still believed was the self-assertive young swaggerer’s deflowering of the virginal Caitlin. Ever since then he regarded himself as Caitlin’s protector and confidant, even after Michael came upon the scene just a year or so later. The unfortunate outcome of the silly affair was that bad blood existed between Liam and Clifford.
Libros Libertad 