The Made Marriage Page 13

  ‘I should never under any circumstances marry anyone I didn’t love,’ she said firmly.

  ‘Bravely spoken!’ he said dryly, ‘but you should recollect that if Mrs. Murphy hadn’t broken her arm yourself and Bedsocks would have been bundled on to the Dublin train. However for once I’m inclined to agree with you. I’m not attracted by the idea of a mere partnership either, and if and when I marry it certainly won’t be the product of a made match—no matter how tempting the bride’s dowry may seem,’ he added, a smile touching the corners of his mouth. He relapsed into silence and, for the rest of the journey, seemed in an abstracted mood and Kate guessed that he had already forgotten her presence.

  As they drove up to Laragh lights flooded from the windows and open hall door and as the car came to a stop Aunt Florrie hurried forward anxiously.

  ‘Well, here she is, safe and sound!’ Owen announced. ‘You see she wasn’t stolen away by a leprechaun or at the bottom of a bog hole, I found her sitting by the side of the road feeling sorry for herself.’

  ‘I wasn’t!’ Kate protested indignantly.

  ‘Well, if you weren’t, you should have been,’ Florrie Lawlor put in briskly, ‘for you look worn out, and hungry to boot! I’ve built up the fire in the sitting-room and left coffee and sandwiches, so in you go and help yourselves, both of you. By the way, Kate, that dratted cat of yours has done nothing but pad around the house. I think the animal’s bewitched. She seemed to know that you should have been home ages ago. I even gave her a saucer of Owen’s precious cream from the dairy, but nothing would placate her, so I planked her down in front of the sitting-room fire and shut the door—though I shouldn’t be a bit surprised if she’s already guessed you’re safe and is tackling the sandwiches. By the way,’ she added, ‘what became of my pillow? Did you leave it in the car, Owen?’

  ‘I didn’t bring it,’ Kate put in quickly. ‘It seems it met with an accident.’

  ‘I can guess what kind of accident it met with,’ Florrie said significantly. ‘The twins, as usual, were up to mischief, no doubt.’

  Kate nodded, ‘A pillow fight!’ Then added hastily, ‘But your bicycle’s all right. I left it by the side of the road, but Mr. Lawlor’s going to send for it.’

  ‘What’s this Mr. Lawlor stuff?’ Florrie barked. ‘Really, Owen, considering most of the countryside considers the worst of your relationship with Kate, isn’t it time you dispensed with formality?’

  Kate blushed and tried to avoid Owen’s quizzical eye. ‘I’d love a cup of coffee,’ she said quickly.

  ‘Then you shall have one,’ he said gravely, and to her surprise she felt him place his arm about her shoulders as he led her towards the sitting-room. ‘You know, Kate,’ he said, ‘I think there’s something in what Aunt Florrie says. It’s time you and I got on friendlier terms. Who knows, if I hadn’t arrived in the nick of time you might have been kidnapped by a leprechaun and taken away to the land of Tir Nan Og where you would have remained for ever young, whereas I should have become an old man for ever searching for you.’

  She glanced at him shyly. He was mocking her, she knew, but there was an ambiguous undercurrent in his manner that puzzled her. To her relief it was Bedsocks who came to her rescue, for as they entered the room she was jumping down from the table leaving behind traces of her depredations in a half nibbled sandwich. At the sight of Kate, she wriggled forward ingratiatingly with a little miaow of pleasure.

  Kate picked up the cat and buried her face in the soft fur. ‘Bedsocks,’ she murmured reproachfully, ‘how could you let me down like this?’

  But Bedsocks, seeing that her mistress was showing no great concern at her depredations, had fixed her topaz eyes on the half-eaten sandwich and with one bound had sprung from Kate’s arms and landed on the tray, scattering sandwiches and coffee on the carpet.

  Kate looked aghast as the coffee soaked into a white sheepskin rug leaving a growing dark stain, but, to her surprise, Owen burst into laughter.

  ‘Don’t look so tragic,’ he said with a comforting little squeeze of her arm. ‘We can fetch more coffee from the kitchen, and I was never particularly keen on that rug anyway.’

  ‘I’ll make the coffee,’ she said eagerly.

  ‘And I’ll cut the sandwiches. That’s pretty fair, isn’t it?’

  She nodded. ‘It sounds very fair to me, Mr. Lawlor,’ she replied demurely.

  ‘I thought we had arranged that it should be Owen.’

  ‘Owen then,’ she said shyly, and was surprised to find how repeating his name aloud gave her a warm happy feeling that she was unable to understand or to explain to herself.

  They prepared the food together in the kitchen and afterwards consumed coffee and sandwiches, chatting desultorily about a hundred and one things, and it was with a start that she heard the clock chime in the hall.

  ‘I didn’t realise how late it is,’ she exclaimed. As she spoke she jumped to her feet, then drew in her breath sharply as pain shot through her cramped muscles.

  ‘It’s all the exercise, and on such an old bone-shaker,’ he assured her.

  Smiling wryly, Kate tried to hobble to the door, but before she had reached it, Owen followed and, taking her completely by surprise, swung her into his arms. ‘How long will it take you to get upstairs at this rate—and remember we’re haymaking tomorrow! You’ll need your beauty sleep or you won’t be able for the extra work.’ He sounded gruff and his intentions were obviously unromantic, but, held close to him, Kate wondered if he guessed how hard her heart was beating.

  ‘Our hayfields are on a steep incline, so it means we have to mow it in the good old-fashioned way with a horse-drawn cutter. It also means that the work will take a full day, instead of a few hours. In this weather, you’ll have to bring tea out to us in the fields, for haymaking is thirsty work.’

  ‘Oh yes, Joe was telling me about it,’ she replied, trying to sound natural and interested, though all she could think about was how safe she felt in his strong arms and how close his face was to hers.

  He laughed softly as he carried her across the hall. ‘Oh, Joe will be looking forward to your arrival in the field. He carries his heart on his sleeve as far as you’re concerned.’

  ‘They say he’s fickle, so I shan’t trust his affections too much.’ She hoped she said it with the right touch of airiness.

  When they reached her room the lamp was already lit, casting its cosy intimate glow on the brass bed and chintz coverings. He laid her down on her bed and for a moment stood regarding her in silence. ‘Well, sleep well, and be sure that you’re not late in the morning,’ he said gruffly as he turned away and strode from the room without another word, or even wishing her good-night.

  Late that night she awoke suddenly with a sense that some urgent task awaited her in the morning. Then she remembered: she must phone Nicky as early as possible and tell him firmly that there was not the slightest chance of her going to Blarney with him. This new relationship with Owen must be preserved at all costs. Not for worlds would she jeopardise it by indulging in a schoolgirl prank with the ebullient Nicky.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  ON the following morning, as soon as the men had departed from the kitchen, Kate, without bothering to clear away the dishes, sped to the phone. She felt a nervous urgency to get in touch with Nicky and tell him that the Blarney trip was off, for she knew enough concerning his peculiar temperament to guess that by this time he would certainly have added some refinements to his scheme, calculated to make things as uncomfortable for Owen as possible. To her relief, when she glanced into the dining-room, Owen had already gone: it meant that she could speak openly to Nicky without the danger of being overheard.

  When she rang the Fitzpatrick number she was answered by Sean. ‘Oh, you got back to Laragh all right?’ he remarked in what Kate took to be tones of disappointment. ‘When Owen phoned us last night Eamonn and I were sure you’d got lost for good and probably you’d be found in a bog hole after thousands of years, just the same as yo
u are now—for there’s something in the peat that preserves people,’ he added informatively.

  Evidently the boys had given much thought to this morbid speculation and he sounded much aggrieved when Kate cut into his remarks by asking for his brother Nicky.

  ‘Nicky?’ he repeated in surprise. ‘But why do you want to speak to him? You’re not in love with him or anything like that?’ he demanded suspiciously, ‘just when we’ve got it all arranged that you’re to marry Owen. Then Doretta will go back to Italy.’

  ‘No, I most certainly am not in love with him,’ Kate was divided between impatience and laughter.

  ‘Mother says she won’t ever get another au pair girl,’ Sean informed her. ‘When she came back from Limerick she was frightfully annoyed. She said she had been speaking to someone who knew Doretta’s family and they said her people don’t really have a big hotel in Italy and she said Doretta had been deceiving her, and—’

  ‘Do tell Nicky I want to speak to him,’ Kate interrupted impatiently. She could imagine how upset Mrs. Fitzpatrick had been by the discovery and how the twins had relished the excitement.

  ‘Oh, all right!’ Sean said, without much enthusiasm. ‘But he may have gone to the mill for all I know.’

  ‘Well, do find out,’ Kate persisted. ‘Tell him Kate Norbert wants to speak to him and that it’s urgent.’ There was a lengthy pause before Nicky’s mocking tones came to her ears. ‘It’s rather flattering to be rung at such an early hour, Kate my dear. Usually my girl-friends wait until a more sedate time of the day.’

  ‘I thought you might have left for the mill if I waited until later,’ Kate said hurriedly.

  ‘Left for the mill? My dear girl, I haven’t even had breakfast yet! I can assure you that were I to arrive at this time in the morning it would cause only consternation and dismay. You see, they’re used to my ways and realise that I don’t operate at uncivilised hours of the day.’ And it was this particular propensity that had left the Fitzpatrick family in its present impecunious state, Kate thought dryly.

  ‘However, it’s really delightful to have a pretty girl phone one at such unseasonable times,’ Nicky went on. ‘Have you found out what day Owen and Doretta are setting out on their expedition? I suggest we wait until they have set off then follow, but by a different route. My car is much faster than Owen’s and we’ll easily be there before them.’

  ‘That’s just what I want to talk to you about,’ she broke in hurriedly. ‘I’ve changed my mind, Nicky. I’m not going to Blarney with you.’

  There was a long pause at the end of the line, then Nicky said softly, ‘And just why are you trying to back out, or am I being too personal?’

  Impossible to confess to Nicky that she was anxious to preserve the new relationship that had arisen between her and Owen. ‘I’ve changed my mind,’ she said lamely.

  ‘So you’ve changed your mind!’ Gone was the lazy affability: his voice sounded cold and faintly menacing and, for the first time, Kate realised how completely she had ignored Owen’s warning concerning his cousin.

  This was a side of his character Nicky had never displayed before and she felt a growing nervousness as he continued, ‘Do you imagine you can play fast and loose with me, my dear Kate? Oh no, as far as I’m concerned the trip is still on. I’ve a few scores to settle with my dear cousin, and his attempting to annex Doretta isn’t the least of them.’

  ‘But I don’t want to go!’ Kate objected.

  ‘Indeed! And do you think I’m so stupid that I don’t know what has prompted your sudden change of plan? I’ve heard all about your big disappearing act last night. Owen, of course, came to the rescue and no doubt in relief at finding you in one piece and himself not in the position to have to look around for another housekeeper he condescended to cast a few civil words in your direction. Well, don’t count on the affability lasting. Once you’re safely reinstalled in the kitchen you’ll find how quickly he’ll change his tune.’

  His words gave her a cold feeling of shock. Was it true that Owen’s interest would be merely temporary? Nicky was simply displaying his usual maliciousness, she told herself, yet, looking back, she realised she had no concrete reason to imagine that Owen had shown her more than a sort of detached benevolence.

  ‘You can’t force me to go,’ she protested.

  ‘Oh, but that’s just where you’re wrong, Kate! How would you like it if I told Owen how in sheer jealousy of his friendship with Doretta, you planned to spoil their trip?’

  ‘But that’s not true,’ she defended herself anxiously.

  ‘Maybe not strictly true, but you did agree, didn’t you, that you and I should go together, and it was made perfectly plain that the idea was to make Owen as uncomfortable as possible. Are you prepared to deny it, my honest forthright outspoken Kate, if Owen should tax you with it?’

  It was true that if Owen were to face her with the accusation it would be impossible to pretend that she had been unaware of Nicky’s plan.

  ‘Look, Nicky,’ she said desperately, ‘what satisfaction will you get from making trouble? Surely there’s some other way in which you could spend your time besides making dissension between people. Haven’t you done enough harm already in bringing me over here and placing me in such an intolerable situation?’

  ‘My dear girl, I’m not particularly interested in your problems. But as I said, I have one or two outstanding scores to settle with my beloved cousin: for one thing, I’m heartily sick of having him flung up in my face as being all the things I’m supposed not to be. You can’t imagine how bored one becomes by hearing how industrious and wise he is! Besides, I don’t imagine the situation, as far as you are concerned, is by any means intolerable! In fact, I think you’re in love with him, whether you know it or not. And as for Owen—! He has a pretty and competent housekeeper in you, worth a hundred Mrs. Murphys, and he’s a cold enough fish to realise he’ll never get a better domestic help. So look out your best bonnet, for I assure you that, as soon as I hear from Doretta what day they’re going, we too shall be hitting the trail.’

  There was a click as Nicky cut her off and slowly she put down the receiver. There would be no point, she realised, in importuning him further. His dislike and envy of his cousin was too deeply ingrained for him to relinquish his plans, no matter how childishly vindictive they might appear!

  It was only when she met Mrs. Murphy that she realised how much truth there might be in Nicky’s belief that Owen probably preferred her domestic talents to those of his former housekeeper, for it would have been hard to find anyone more unfitted for her job than the stout woman who entered the yard as Kate began to wash up the dishes. Glancing through one of the windows, Kate was struck by the bellicose expression on the woman’s round, red face, and as she glimpsed the cast on one arm she knew immediately who her visitor was.

  Mrs. Murphy advanced purposefully on the kitchen door and, without knocking, opened it and stood regarding Kate balefully. ‘Ah, so you’re the new girl!’ she declared at last. ‘My young one was telling me about you,’ she added ambiguously.

  Kate took her hands out of the wash-up basin and dried them. It was clear that Mrs. Murphy suspected her of trying to usurp her position and was badly in need of placating.

  The newcomer examined Kate with small red-rimmed eyes. ‘You’re younger than I thought on,’ she remarked sourly, ‘and being used to city ways, noways fit to run a house like this.’ She glanced significantly at the dishes lying piled on the table. ‘It’s late in the day to be setting about the wash-up. In my time it was done directly after the men’s breakfast.’

  ‘I was phoning,’ Kate said a little helplessly.

  ‘Phoning?’ Mrs. Murphy exclaimed. ‘And what would you be doing, phoning at this time in the morning, I ask you?’

  ‘Won’t you sit down?’ Kate invited a little desperately. She had the feeling that this was not to prove a short visit. Nor was she mistaken! Mrs. Murphy, with a sotto voce remark that it was mighty strange to be asked to si
t down in her own kitchen as if she were a stranger, took the wooden armchair beside the range and, looking around the kitchen, remarked significantly that there were big changes she could see, and none, if she might say so, for the better.

  This, Kate felt, was Mrs. Murphy’s way of airing her disapproval of the vase of irises on the windowledge and the fact that the dishes on the open dresser had been rearranged and the enamelled tins marked sugar, tea and flour placed in a neat and orderly row in front of the display of willow-pattern serving dishes.

  Mrs. Murphy fished in the pocket of her capacious wine-red coat and produced a small bottle of Irish whiskey. ‘I have to take a sup on account of me arm,’ she announced portentously and, uncorking the bottle, she took a generous gulp of the contents and sighed deeply. ‘It do hurt something cruel, but the plaster is coming off next week.’

  ‘Plaster?’ Kate repeated confusedly.

  ‘Yes, the plaster on me arm. The doctor says it’s coming on all right and it won’t be long afore I’m back at work again.’

  ‘Oh yes, I see.’ Kate took up a drying cloth and slowly rubbed a plate.

  Mrs. Murphy’s small eyes narrowed. ‘You didn’t think you was going to be working here for good and all, did you?’ she asked slyly.

  ‘No, I suppose not.’ As she spoke Kate realised that Mrs. Murphy’s ultimate return to her duties at Laragh was something she had placed very firmly at the back of her mind. But here was the lady in person, stout and substantial, sitting on the chair beside the range, completely at home in her familiar territory, letting her know that it was no longer her kitchen and that the usurper must make way for the true claimant.

  Mrs. Murphy laughed throatily. ‘No doubt you saw yourself taking over, but you’ll find that, though a man may like his bit of fun, it’s having his meals on time and running the place proper that’s the important thing, when all’s said and done.’

  Kate gazed at her incredulously. Did the woman really mean what she was implying?