“What did he say?” Ashling asked the old woman. It was the first time she had spoken since they had set foot in this room. Eilis stared back at Ashling. Betty suddenly felt as if she had walked into the middle of an old family feud. It felt like there was unfinished business between these two, who had never met. The kind of resentment that lurks beneath still waters, deep, dark, and silent, like an alligator. The old woman smiled. A contemptuous, sneering smile. A distant cousin to a snarl. “I don’t remember,” she said simply.
