I have just returned from the Delaware County courthouse where the matter of Snyder vs. Lombardi has finally been put to rest.

After haranguing a very patient Judge George Pagano who had found her in contempt of court and threatened to put her in jail last December, Paula Lombardi finally signed the papers that she had been ordered to sign, thus bringing to an end a 13-year court case involving two houses, a mortgage a lien and a romantic relationship gone bad.

At one point, Ms. Lombardi told Judge Pagano that the plaintiff's lawyer was misleading the court about a conversation she had with him Tuesday morning when I happened to be present in her home. She told the judge that I was in courtroom could verify everything she said. Lucky for her I was not asked to take the witness stand.

Sitting silently through the proceeding in a gray suit was Fred Snyder, who was represented by attorney James Kelly of Upper Darby.

Having spent an hour and a half listening to Lombardi go on and on about the case, in which she ended up representing herself, I asked Snyder if he wished to comment.

"No" he said, "You wouldn't want to hear what I have to say."

When I assured him that I would, his lawyer intervened.

"I would advise you not to say a word," he told his client, "because he (meaning me) would properly quote you and no good can come from that..."

For her part, Lombardi said what I wrote in my column Wednesday about "Hell has no fury, or whatever it was" was wrong.

"I told you this case was not about Fred Snyder. This is about an injustice in the courts." Adding... "I don't ever want to see Fred's ugly face again."