"Lady Fortune is a lovely lass," Shane Devers said graciously. "I am sorry she will not be our daughter, my lord."
Bows and curtsies were exchanged all around, and then the Leslies of Glenkirk took their leave of the Deverses of Mallow Court.
"My prayers have been answered!" Lady Jane Devers cried out when they had gone. "We shall leave for England as quickly as possible. I can have my wardrobe made in London. It will be more up-to-date than with a dressmaker from Dublin."
"William will not be pleased at all," her husband answered her. "I do not know what he will do for he has convinced himself that Lady Fortune Lindley is the love of his life. How he should know that on such short acquaintance is beyond me, my dear. Let us call him now, and tell him. John," he called to a footman. "Fetch my sons, and tell them to come to the Great Hall at once. Find Master Kieran first."
"Why Kieran first?" his wife demanded.
"Because Kieran can help us to control William's assured outburst. I don't want him galloping across the countryside to plead with the girl. It would embarrass Lady Fortune, and shame us."
Kieran Devers came, and was swiftly apprised of the situation. He smiled sardonically. Had he not predicted the haughty wench would turn his younger brother down? Why the Leslies had even considered a Devers of Mallow Court was beyond him. With a duke for a stepfather, a duke for a half-brother, and a marquess for a brother; with a small fortune and rich lands to her name, the Lady Fortune Lindley could have a duke for a husband. She probably had some poor dumb devil back in England dangling while she tortured him by coming to Ireland on a supposed husband hunt. "How soon does the girl go home?" he asked his father.
"They plan to remain for the summer months," was the surprising answer, "which is even more reason for getting William off to England as soon as we possibly can. Are you going with us?"
Kieran shook his head. "I have no desire to see England," he said. "You, William, and Lady Jane go. I'll look after everything here, Da. 'Tis small trouble. The crops are planted. The sheep are flourishing in the meadows. There is not a great deal to do, but I know how closely you mind your accounts, and that I can do for you."
William Devers came into the hall. "You sent for me, Da?"
"Lady Fortune has refused your offer," his father spoke bluntly.
"Of course she would the first time," William answered calmly. "She is a lady, and it would be unseemly for her to jump at my offer."
"For God's sake, Willy," his brother snapped impatiently. "You could offer a hundred times, and the wench would turn you away! She doesn't want you. Her parents came themselves to tell our father and your mother, laddie. Let it go, and marry your cousin, Emily."
"I don't believe you," William Devers said defiantly.
"Faugh! You tell him, madame. Tell your son he has been rejected by a disdainful and arrogant English wench," Kieran said angrily.
"It is true, William," his mother said.
"I shall go to her!" William cried.
"You shall not!" Sir Shane said harshly. "Would you disgrace our family with your lovesick behavior?"
"Take one step out of the hall," his brother warned, "and I swear, laddie, I shall beat you senseless!" His dark eyes threatened warningly as he glared at his younger brother.
William Devers felt his heart sink. She had turned him down. How could she? She was the most beautiful girl in the world. She spoke about things he had never heard a woman speak about. He adored her. How could she not understand that he loved her? "You have always planned on me wedding Emily Anne," he said, suddenly turning on his mother menacingly. "Put it from your mind, Mama. I would not have that simpering, treacle-soaked little bitch if she were the last girl on the face of the earth!"
Lady Devers drew herself up, and glared fiercely at her son. "Do not speak to me like that, William. You do not have to marry your cousin if you do not wish to, but Lady Fortune Lindley will not marry you either. We will leave for England tomorrow to visit your sisters. Perhaps a few months away will free you of the bad influences you have come under these past few days. No!" She held her hand up at him. "Do not even attempt to argue with me in this, William." Then she stalked from the hall, her back straight, her head high.
Kieran put an arm about his brother's shoulders, but William shrugged it off. "There is nothing you can say to comfort me," he snarled.
"I suggest you lock him in his room till you're ready to leave, Da," Kieran said mockingly. "If you do not, the young fool may make a run for Erne Rock, and get his backside kicked by a duke for his presumption." He chuckled.
"I'll kill you one day, Kieran," William said angrily.
"Why would you even bother?" his brother returned scathingly. "You already have everything that should have been mine. Not that I care, Willy, but your mama might. Pull yourself together, laddie, and behave like a Devers." Then he, too, departed the hall.
"I don't think I can trust you, William," his father said wearily, and then proceeded to follow his eldest son's advice.
The next morning the Deverses' coach pulled away from Mallow Court, a stony-faced William seated inside with his mother. His father rode alongside the lumbering vehicle with his elder son who had decided to accompany them as far as the Dundalk Road. There Kieran Devers bid them farewell, and headed back cross-country to his home.
Fortune saw him from a distance, but she recognized the large white stallion he had ridden the day he had come to Erne Rock. With its black mane and tail, the beast was quite distinctive. She waved to him. It was bold, she knew, but once she had realized that young William Devers was not really the mate for her, she had also realized that his older brother was the far more interesting man. Now she meant to confirm her first impression. Because she was not marrying his brother did not mean they could not strike up an acquaintance. After all her parents had both stressed the importance of not embarrassing the Deverses by avoiding them, and appearing to snub them. Not that she had any interest in Kieran Devers.
What was the wench up to? Kieran wondered, as he rode toward her. She had certainly been rude enough when they had first met, and then she had made a great pretense of being enthralled by his brother. If anyone was to blame for William's heartbreak and attitude, it was certainly Lady Fortune Lindley. Still, he was rather fascinated by her. A wench who rode a big gelding, and rode it astride to boot. He waved back as he came toward her.
"Good day, Master Devers," Fortune said pleasantly.
"Good day, Lady Fortune," he replied.
"You were coming from the Dundalk Road?" she queried.
"I escorted my parents and William to it. They are going to England to visit my sisters in London," he explained.
"Poor Will. He is a sweet boy," she answered him. "I hope he will enjoy London, although most of the good families leave it in the summer weather. Perhaps your sisters' families have homes outside the town?"
"If it is the fashionable thing to do, then they will indeed have country houses," he told her with a small smile. "If there is one certainty my stepmother has taught my sisters, and my half-sister, it is how to be fashionable, and properly English."
"You don't approve of the English?" she said quietly.
"I don't approve of those who enter a country, take the land from its rightful owners, and attempt to impress their religion and way of life upon a people who already have their own way of life and religion," Kieran Devers said.