Chapter 19 - ROBERT WRITES FROM PRISON
Robert wrote letters.
The first:
You destroyed Hearthwood.
False.
I did not answer.
Second:
Arthur always preferred you.
Irrelevant.
No answer.
Third:
Josephine should know what family sacrifice built for her.
No.
Then, years later:
I gave her that horse because I wanted you to feel small enough to sign the next morning.
I stopped reading.
That was the first honest sentence.
He continued:
I did not think about what she would feel.
I thought children forget humiliation.
I know now that is something adults say when they want forgiveness from themselves.
I showed the letter to my therapist.
Not Josephine.
She was nine.
Later, when she was an adult, she could decide.
Robert served his sentence.
He lost direct control of Hearthwood permanently.
He retained a reduced personal investment after restitution.
Not poverty.
Consequence.
Upon release, he requested no contact initially.
Good.
Helen remained with him.
Their marriage survived.
I did not romanticize that either.
People can love each other and reinforce terrible patterns.
May you like
People can also change.
Evidence over time would decide what contact we allowed.
