Before She Existed

"What did she say?" I said.

"She said: I understand. Please keep the letter. Someone will need it eventually."

A pause.

"I kept it," Beatrix said. "For forty-three years. I kept it because she had asked me to and because she had been right that someone would need it eventually, and because keeping it was the only thing I could do and doing nothing was not something I was willing to accept."

I look