.

.
"Good-bye, little pal of mine.

We've had some good times together, haven't we?
"Your devoted, PATRICK." Sara sat very still, the letter clasped in her hand.

She had always secretly believed that some long-dead romance lay behind Patrick's bachelorhood, but she had never suspected that her own mother had been the woman he had loved.
The knowledge illumined all the past with a fresh light, investing it with a tender, reminiscent sentiment.

It was easy now to understand the almost idyllic atmosphere Patrick had infused into their life together.
Sara recognized it as the outcome of a love and fidelity as beautiful and devoted as it is rare.