Free Amongst Women by John McGahern

acquired a new pleasantness and comfort. Even Moran had to admit it though he dismissed it as well by saying that it would have done well enough for the likes of him as it had been.
    What was also clear was that the house’s need of Maggie had disappeared. Rose brought this up very gently to Moran.
    ‘She’ll have a roof over her head as long as I’m above ground,’ he responded aggressively.
    ‘She’ll have that as long as I’m here too but I think she should have more.’
    ‘What more does she want?’
    ‘She’s almost nineteen. The day is gone when a girl waits around till some man needs a wife. She should have the protection of some work.’
    ‘What job of any good would she get here? She left school at fourteen. She wasn’t all that good at school either.’
    ‘There’s a shortage of nurses in England. I always regretted I never trained. I’ve spoken to her and she’s interested.’
    ‘You were very quick off the mark, weren’t you? A lot of our people go wrong in England.’
    ‘I was there for a while,’ she said pointedly but she was careful not to press too much. She had heard already from the girls how Luke had tried to get Maggie to go to England to learn nursing against Moran’s fierce opposition, how their older brother and Moran had fought, and when Maggie yielded to Moran and stayed, Luke had gone on his own without telling his father.

    She waited until Moran himself had to come to talk about Maggie. Sheila and Mona were at the convent secondary school, Michael was finishing national school. Maggie had so little to do during the day that she spent much of the time chatting and gossiping with Rose. She would pretend to be busy whenever she heard Moran come. ‘Daddy hates to see anybody sitting down doing nothing.’ ‘Poor Daddy,’ Rose would smile with affection after he had gone again.
    Moran began to see how little Maggie had to do in the house and that she needed money for dances and clothes now. He suspected Rose was letting her have some of her own money.
    ‘Do you still think that Maggie should go to England to nurse?’ he asked eventually.
    ‘I do. She’d always have something to fall back on. You never know what is going to happen in a life. It’s a profession.’
    ‘I don’t know. I was very much against it when that brother of hers wanted her to go. Of course he wasn’t interested in what was good or bad for the girls. He was doing it against me.’
    ‘I’m far from against you, you know that. I want it for her own good. This place will always be here for her to come home to as long as I breathe.’
    Because of the shortages of girls for nursing, many ads were appearing in the daily papers. Rose helped Maggie to write away for the forms and then to fill in the forms when they came. To Moran’s surprise she was accepted for training by five hospitals. The whole house sat down after the Rosary one evening to pick the hospital she would go to. They chose the London Hospital because a few people from around were already working there. After they had reached that decision Michael began to cry and would not be consoled.
    ‘They’ll all be gone soon,’ he said to their humorous questioning.  ‘It’s awful. It’s not fair.’
    When Rose suggested that they write to Luke to ask him to meet Maggie off the train when she got to London Moran was furious.
    ‘Didn’t the hospital say they’d have her met?’

    ‘He’s her brother. It’d be natural for him to meet Maggie.’
    ‘There’s not a natural bone in that gentleman’s body. I wrote him several times and all the answer I ever got was I’m-well- here-and-I-hope-you-are-well-there. Is that natural after all the years of bringing him up?’
    ‘These things happen in families and then they pass,’ Rose said quietly. ‘An accident happens or a wedding. People are forced back together again. I know how you feel, Daddy, but maybe it is better not to take too strong a stand. Things are always changing. You never