Brooklyn Page 0,33

doing something for you. Say a prayer it’s a Jewish fellow who believes in the power of the collar. We’ll try the best college first, and that’s Brooklyn College. I love breaking all the rules. So I’ll go down there now and Franco says you are to go home, but be here on time in the morning with a big smile. And I’ll drop by Ma Kehoe’s later.”

Eilis almost laughed out loud when he said “Ma Kehoe.” His accent was, for the first time, pure Enniscorthy. She understood that Franco was Mr. Bartocci, and she was interested in the familiar way in which Father Flood had described him. As soon as he left, she found her coat and slipped quietly out of the shop. She was sure that Miss Fortini had seen her pass, but she did not turn as she made her way quickly along Fulton Street and then home towards Mrs. Kehoe’s.

As she let herself into the hall with her own key, she found Mrs. Kehoe waiting for her.

“You go into the sitting room there now,” Mrs. Kehoe said. “I’m going to make tea for the two of us.”

The sitting room, which gave on to the front of the house, was surprisingly beautiful, with old rugs and heavy, comfortable-looking furniture and some dark pictures in gold frames. Double doors opened into a bedroom, and, since one of the doors was open, Eilis could see that the bedroom was decorated in the same heavy, rich style. She looked at the old round dining table and supposed that that was where the game of poker was played on Sunday nights. Her mother, she thought, would love this room. She saw an old gramophone and a wireless in another corner and noticed that the tassels on the tablecloth and the curtains seemed to match. She began to take note of all the details, thinking, for the first time in days, how she could include an account of them in a letter to her mother and Rose. She would write it as soon as she got to her room after supper, she thought, and she would put nothing in about how she had spent the last two days. She would try to put those two days behind her. No matter what she dreamed about, no matter how bad she felt, she had no choice, she knew, but to put it all swiftly out of her mind. She would have to get on with her work if it was during the day and go back to sleep if it was during the night. It would be like covering a table with a tablecloth, or closing curtains on a window; and maybe the need would lessen as time went on, as Jack had hinted it would, as Father Flood had suggested. In any case, that was what she would have to do. As soon as Mrs. Kehoe appeared with tea things on a tray, Eilis clenched her fist when she felt that she was ready to begin.

After the evening meal Father Flood came and Eilis was summoned once more into Mrs. Kehoe’s private quarters. Father Flood was smiling and went towards the fireplace as soon as Eilis appeared as if to warm his hands, even though there was no fire lit. He rubbed his hands together and turned towards her.

“Now I’ll leave the two of you in peace,” Mrs. Kehoe said. “If you need me, I’m in the kitchen.”

“The power of the Holy Roman and Apostolic Church is not to be underestimated,” Father Flood said. “The first thing I found was a nice devout Italian secretary who told me what courses are full and what courses are really full, and most important told me what not to ask for. I told her the whole story. I had her in tears.”

“I’m glad you think it’s funny,” Eilis said.

“Oh, cheer up. I got you into the night class in bookkeeping and preliminary accountancy. I told them how brilliant you were. You’re the first Irish girl. It’s full of Jews and Russians and those Norwegians I told you about and they’d like to have even more Italians, but they’re too busy making money. The Jewish fellow who runs the place looked like he never saw a priest in his life before. He stood to attention when he saw me like it was the army. Brooklyn College, only the best. I paid your tuition for the first semester. It’s Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, seven to ten, and Thursday,