- Posted on: 26 July, 2021
- 50 Years Old
- Edna O'Brien
- #1960 #50 #Caithleen Brady #Female #Mrs Burns #Novel #The Country Girls #The Country Girls Trilogy
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Mrs Burns 50
Mrs Burns was drinking tea and she had an open tin of fancy biscuits on the table. The hams were simmering in the big black pots on top of the coal range. She had put apples and cloves in the water and the smell was delicious.
‘I came in for the dustpan,’ I said.
‘It’s over there beside the range. Are you doing a little cleaning, darling?’ Her eyes brightened.
‘No. I spilt sugar.’ I wouldn’t have told her but I was afraid that Mr Burns might mention it when she asked him in bed that night what he thought of me.
‘Oh, darling angel, how much sugar?’ Her face changed its expression and once again her lips disappeared.
‘Just a little,’ I said placatingly.
‘Now you must learn to be careful. Mr Burns and I never waste a thing. Now, darling, you will be careful?’ Never waste a thing and she was stuffing herself with biscuits.
‘I will,’ I said. I wasn’t looking at her suet-pale face but at the top button of her yellow jersey dress. It was an expensive dress but stained all over. She had a pencil over her ear and the point of it showed through her grey-black hair. She was about fifty.
