I have been forbidden to write to you or think of you, but I will take my own way about you.

I have known all that has happened since we left Ireland, through the letters my mother has received.

I know that Playmore has been sold, and I am sorry.
Now that your day of release is near, and you are to be again a free man, have you decided about your future?
Is it to be in Ireland?
No, I think not.

Ireland is no place for a sane and level man to fight for honour, fame, and name.

I hear that things are worse there in every way than they have been in our lifetime.
After what has happened in any case, it is not a field that offers you a chance.