Was he joking? Roarty wondered. Perhaps not. It was typical of Potter to leave a question mark hanging in the air behind him. Roarty turned and slowly climbed the stairs to his bedroom. It was something he’d done many times before. Watching his broad, blank back, Potter was reminded of Loftus. They were both physically forceful men.
The sunlight was so sharp now that for a moment he did not recognise Gillespie, who appeared in a tall furry hat and a dark-green overcoat that reached down to his ankles. There was something ambiguous in his bearing that contradicted his enthusiastic smile. He spoke as if he’d had no recollection of the previous evening and the excesses of his after-dinner conversation. He looked so exuberant that Potter felt he was about to slap him on the back for no discernible reason. Truly, Gillespie was a man of extremes. One day he could be the most genial of boon companions; the next, the rudest man in Europe.
‘You’re off today. It’s goodbye, I suppose?’
‘More au revoir, I think. I have unfinished business here. I’m one of those men who like to get to the bottom of things.’
‘An interesting phrase—I mean, thought. We must keep in touch. If you leave me your address, I’ll keep you posted on the state of the game. The biggest mistakes in life come from knowing too little too late. The game we do best here is hurling. It’s older and faster than your cricket.’ Gillespie smiled broadly and punched Potter on the arm.
‘I’ll be sure to drop you a line.’ Potter sought to put him off without offending him. ‘And thanks again for... everything.’
A shot echoed behind them and rolled away over their heads.
‘Was that a rifle?’ Gillespie wondered.
‘A shotgun by the sound of it,’ Potter said.
‘Maybe we should investigate. Who knows, it could well make a story for the Dispatch.’
‘Sufficient unto the day... Some things are best left uninvestigated,’ Potter said. ‘As Roarty once observed to me, the biggest mistakes in life come from knowing too much.’
Gillespie started across the street to the pub. Suddenly he stopped, stricken by a thought.
‘That makes no sense, Potter. How can anyone know too much? What on earth could he have meant?’ In his ludicrously long overcoat he reminded Potter of a foot-soldier just returned from the Crimean war.
‘We all meddle too much in our own affairs, in things we know too much about,’ Potter sought to explain.
‘Well, isn’t that typical! On the brink of departing you raise another hare, and a really big one, too. You failed the barytes test, Potter, but now I think you may have struck gold. It calls for another dinner party. No fewer than the Graces, isn’t that what you said?’
‘Next time I’ll cook dinner,’ Potter promised. ‘To make up the number, we’ll invite Roarty.’
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PATRICK MCGINLEY was born in Glencolmcille, Co Donegal. He was educated at Galway University. Subsequently, he moved to London to work in book publishing. He now lives in Kent with his wife Kathleen. His Donegal childhood and boyhood are described in his memoir That Unearthly Valley. His eight novels include Foggage, The Trick of the Ga Bolga and Goosefoot, which was made into a film.
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The Apollo list reflects in various ways the extremity of our time, and the ways in which novelists responded to the vertiginous changes that the world went through as the great empires declined, relations between men and women were transformed and formerly subject peoples found their voice.
Selected by the distinguished critic, poet and editor Michael Schmidt, in conjunction with Neil Belton, editorial director at Head of Zeus, Apollo makes great forgotten works of fiction available to a new generation of readers. Apollo will challenge the established canon and surprise and move readers with its choice of books.
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First published in 1978
This edition first published in the UK in 2017 by Apollo, an imprint of Head of Zeus, Ltd.
Copyright © Patrick McGinley, 1978.
The moral right of Patrick McGinley to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
This is a work of fiction. All characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
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A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN (PB): 9781786696618
ISBN (E): 9781786696601
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