‘Marek’s post.’
Okay. I am still none the wiser here. What does his post have to do with me?
Tomas leans in between us to open up the box and pulls out a bunch of envelopes, all held together by an elastic band. As Tomas goes to remove the brittle band, it snaps in two between his fingers. Clearly, this post has been wrapped up for some time. He passes the bundle towards me, and I notice the envelopes have yellowed, despite being kept inside the box. As I flick through, there is no mistaking the writing on the collection of opened and unopened mail.
My heart rate quickens as I realise who the beautiful cursive writing belongs to. I slowly nod my head at Albert and Tomas.
‘Ah, I get it. They’re from Aunt Grace.’
‘That’s right. You see the Welsh postmark?’ says Tomas. He points to an envelope with a stamp of Queen Elizabeth II underneath the Welsh franking.
‘Goodness.’
I flick through the pile of pretty envelopes. There must be at least thirty letters. I can see Aunt Grace used her best stationery, which makes me smile. I can’t stop looking at the writing on a neatly opened envelope, and I gently scroll my fingers over each of the letters. One by one, I trace the letters of Marek’s name. Even though I wasn’t privy to their love story, I can see that care has been taken to write his name perfectly. I imagine Aunt Grace taking her time as she swirled each letter around as she wrote. She was always such a perfectionist.
‘So, what else is in the box? Are there more letters?’
Tomas tilts the box towards me and shuffles his hand inside, pulling out some brighter-coloured envelopes. Again, they are all carefully organised and held together with another elastic band.
‘Bethlehem,’ I say as I flick through the envelopes.
‘Sorry?’ says Tomas.
‘The Christmas card. She took every one of her Christmas cards to a little place called Bethlehem in Wales so that she could have the stamp. There is no doubt my aunt sent this with a lot of love. She was always so thoughtful.’
I hold a bright red envelope in my hand and again feel the need to stroke it. The stamp is a nativity scene with Bethlehem stamped over it.
Albert has been incredibly quiet for a man who was supposed to explain everything, but now he finally speaks.
‘She wrote to him after he died. I put the post that was sent here with the letters Marek kept in his bedside drawer. I found them when we were clearing things out. Her address is on the back. I should have told her about his death. I’m sorry for that.’
I look at Tomas, unsure of what to say. If only Albert had written back, Aunt Grace could have known the reason she didn’t get a response. It is too late now, but she would have been spared all the uncertainty she had about what had happened between them.
‘It’s okay. It’s all in the past now.’
I play with one of my earrings, a simple stud I always wear, and twiddle it around. It is quite the shock to see proof of their love in front of me. Until now, apart from the confessional letter, there was no physical evidence of their relationship.
‘I suppose at least she clung on to the hope that Marek was alive. It never occurred to her that he’d died, or she wouldn’t have sent me here. It would have probably broken her heart, had she known,’ I say, hoping this will ease his guilt.
‘I know, but she sent you here now. Maybe if she knew then she could’ve died peacefully and not thinking about Marek.’
‘It’s done now. None of us can change anything. It’s okay. But can I askwhyyou didn’t want to tell her?’
‘As I said when we met, Ihatedher for what happened to him for a long time. I resented her because Marek was working so hard to return to her. If he’d met someone here, maybe he’d still be alive. He wouldn’t have gone out fishing, slipped and hit his head on a rock like he did. But now I realise that she never gave up on him, and for that, I’m sorry.’
‘Well, it’s not like her whole life was on hold. It’s just that she put everyone else in front of her own needs, and she regretted it at the end.’
‘It’s quite romantic in a way though. I mean, they both thought about each other until they died,’ says Tomas.
‘It was a very big romance. Marek loved her very much and was desperate to get back to her,’ says Albert.
‘How was he after they split? She said she wrote and told him that it was over.’
‘I don’t know anything about that. He was happy when he died and excited to get back to her.’
‘Well, I guess we’ll never know what he was thinking. Although I suppose the letter could have got lost in the post, and he never knew.’
‘Possibly,’ says Albert.
