Chapter Eleven
'New beginnings'
Over the years ahead, life treated Margaret and Tom kindly. The couple married officially in a quiet out-of-the-way church service fifty miles from Haworth one spring Saturday morning. Margaret had no intention of providing the gossip mongers with any excuse to talk about her and Tom.
You see, apart from themselves, no other person in England knew that there had ever been a connection between Margaret and the murdered man or his killer, Paddy Grogan, also known as Groggy. Neither did anyone ever learn of the prior connection which had existed between killer and murdered man.
You see, apart from themselves, no other person in England knew that there had ever been a connection between Margaret and the murdered man or his killer, Paddy Grogan, also known as Groggy. Neither did anyone ever learn of the prior connection which had existed between killer and murdered man.
Ever since landing in Haworth with Tom and Joe and starting up house and family here, everyone in Haworth had known Margaret as Magaret Dransfield, the wife of Tom Dransfield. Since her secret marriage to Tom Dransfield, nothing had essentially changed apart from the welcomed fact that she could now take Holy Communion once more at her local Catholic parish church. She was still known as Margaret Dransfield, the best jam maker in Haworth and a promising writer to boot!
A big change happened within the Dransfield household in 1979 when a new novel was published to popular acclaim by a Haworth resident and occupier of the Dransfield cottage with the 'Portlaw' name-plate above its door in West Lane. The book was an instant success and it had followed hard on the heels of a well-received book of poetry written by the same author one year earlier. The royalties from its sale enabled Margaret and Tom to purchase a holiday cottage in their native land of Ireland.
The couple were able to buy a beautiful homestead of forty-five acres, which enabled them to own their own horse and flock of sheep. Whenever Margaret looked out of her window, she could see the mountains of Connemara as a backcloth.
Her relationship with her elderly father was eventually re-established and whenever the Dransfields visited Connemara, they would all stay together at the holiday cottage.
Margaret's father was content not to reveal anything to his granddaughter Joe about the former existence of Thomas Walsh or his connection in their lives, especially as his daughter was once again re-united with her faith and the Catholic Church. Before he died at the age of eighty-two, Joe, Margaret and Tom had visited him in Connemara on numerous occasions.
Her relationship with her elderly father was eventually re-established and whenever the Dransfields visited Connemara, they would all stay together at the holiday cottage.
Margaret's father was content not to reveal anything to his granddaughter Joe about the former existence of Thomas Walsh or his connection in their lives, especially as his daughter was once again re-united with her faith and the Catholic Church. Before he died at the age of eighty-two, Joe, Margaret and Tom had visited him in Connemara on numerous occasions.
It amused Margaret that her dear parents had always said that one day she would become a famous author and while they were almost right in their assertion, as she had now firmly established a name for herself as a writer of short articles, it was her husband Tom who'd become the famous author of the Dransfield family with a best seller to his credit!
Margaret always thought that living in the shadow of the home where the three Bronte sisters had been reared in Haworth had been the inspiration required to write. Every morning when Tom and Margaret awoke in Haworth and drew their curtains in the bedroom of their West Lane cottage, the very first sight they saw was the famous parsonage of the Bronte family beyond the car park ahead of them.
Tom had written the first draft of his novel a few years earlier when he’d had four months away from work in order to adapt to his new prosthesis. The story he’d penned, although certain details had been changed to protect the identity of the original source, was undoubtedly one that his wife Margaret would readily recognise. It was a take on her own life story and it was centred in Connemara, Portlaw, Liverpool and Haworth in England.
Margaret always thought that living in the shadow of the home where the three Bronte sisters had been reared in Haworth had been the inspiration required to write. Every morning when Tom and Margaret awoke in Haworth and drew their curtains in the bedroom of their West Lane cottage, the very first sight they saw was the famous parsonage of the Bronte family beyond the car park ahead of them.
Tom had written the first draft of his novel a few years earlier when he’d had four months away from work in order to adapt to his new prosthesis. The story he’d penned, although certain details had been changed to protect the identity of the original source, was undoubtedly one that his wife Margaret would readily recognise. It was a take on her own life story and it was centred in Connemara, Portlaw, Liverpool and Haworth in England.
It has often been said that truth is the best form of fiction to dress up deceit. It was a blessing in disguise though that Margaret, Tom, Joe or Bridget never knew the reason why the father of one daughter, who was undoubtedly a good man, would kill the father of his daughter’s lesbian lover.
During the nine months prior to Rosie Groggy giving birth, she'd only two lovers: Thomas Walsh and the farm-hand Shamus Doolie. By the time Doolie had blackmailed her into an affair, Rosie already had the seed of Thomas Walsh growing inside her. So, you see, there was never any doubt in Rosie's mind who the father of her child was, and it was this prospect which haunted Paddy Groggy after his encounter with Thomas Walsh in Huddersfield! He guessed that Joe and Bridget were half-sisters and was determined to take his revenge as well as to take this dark secret to his grave.
The end.
Text Copyright: William Forde: March, 2014.
During the nine months prior to Rosie Groggy giving birth, she'd only two lovers: Thomas Walsh and the farm-hand Shamus Doolie. By the time Doolie had blackmailed her into an affair, Rosie already had the seed of Thomas Walsh growing inside her. So, you see, there was never any doubt in Rosie's mind who the father of her child was, and it was this prospect which haunted Paddy Groggy after his encounter with Thomas Walsh in Huddersfield! He guessed that Joe and Bridget were half-sisters and was determined to take his revenge as well as to take this dark secret to his grave.
The end.
Text Copyright: William Forde: March, 2014.
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