"Welcome home, madame," Kieran said, coming forward to greet his stepmother, a smile on his handsome face. "I trust my sisters, and their families are all well. Will they be coming home for Willy's nuptials?"
"Unfortunately no as both of them are breeding again. They are more like Catholics than Protestants in their desire to have large, and rather unwieldy, families," his stepmother replied. She glanced about. "All looks in good order, Kieran. You have done well, and I thank you for husbanding your brother's patrimony so diligently." She then swept past him into the house.
His father descended from the coach followed by his younger brother.
"Thank God we're home," Shane Devers said. "May I never have to go more than five miles from Lisnaskea ever again, laddie. Yer sister, Colleen, wrote well of ye, and as you can see, yer stepmother is pleased. Now, laddies, I want a good sup of my own whiskey."
"The tray is awaiting you in the library, Da. Coming, Willy?" Kieran looked to his sibling who was oddly quiet.
"I'm marrying Emily Anne," William Devers said dully.
"I know," his brother answered.
"I don't love her," William replied.
"Ye'll learn to love her," his father said impatiently. "Come along now, and let's have a drink." He hurried into the house.
"I suppose the Leslies have returned to Scotland," William said. "I'll never see Fortune again."
"Nay, they're still here," Kieran told William. "The duchess has, much to her surprise, found herself to be enceinte. It was quite a shock. The child is due in November, and her ladyship has been advised not to travel. It's quite the gossip in Maguire's Ford. As you know, I have several friends in that most hospitable little village."
"If they are here then they must be invited to my wedding," William Devers said horrified. "I do not think I can bear to see her on the day I wed another woman."
His elder brother took him by the shoulders and shook him hard. "Get ahold of yourself, Willy. You are no longer a little lad denied a toy you desired. You're a man. Lady Lindley turned you down. Move past it and be glad you have such a faithful, and devoted young girl as Emily Anne willing to marry you. Stop feeling sorry for yourself, and whining about what might have been. You have agreed to marry your cousin, who is, whether you realize it or not, the perfect wife for you. Do not hurt Emily Anne by your selfish and childish fantasy that there was something between you and Lady Lindley. There wasn't. There could never be, and there will not be," Kieran told him harshly. "Now come into the house, and have that drink with Da."
"Have you seen her?" William asked as they walked together into the house.
"Aye, out riding," Kieran replied.
"Was she alone?" his brother probed.
"Aye, she was alone. There was no gallant with her, Willy. I suspect she doesn't fancy the Irish."
"I'm not Irish," William said.
"Of course you are," Kieran told him. "Our father is Irish. You live in Ireland. You are Irish."
"She once said very much the same thing to me," William said.
"Then she has more sense than I ever gave her credit for," Kieran noted. He opened the library door. "Here we are, Da."
Their father, now seated before his own peat fire, his boots off, his stockinged feet turned towards the blaze as he sipped his whiskey. He waved them both to the sideboard where the decanter sat upon a silver tray. "Help yerselves, laddies, and come sit with me," he said. "Ahh, now, I've been waiting for this since yer mam hustled me from here in June. Both yer sisters live in the country, and their homes were intolerably damp the summer long. Mary is the mother of five, and Bessie has four. Such noisy, ill-mannered children I have never met, and even yer mam agreed with me on that even if they are our grandchildren. What unruly households yer sisters run. Children, and nursemaids, and dogs running all about, and never a moment's peace. There were five of you, but my house was never in such an uproar, thanks to my Jane," Shane Devers said.
Kieran Devers laughed. "I will have to agree with you, Da. My stepmother has always managed to keep an orderly establishment, and whatever good manners I may have, I will lay credit at her feet."
Shane Devers looked up from his whiskey tumbler at his eldest son. The look was piercing. "If only…" he began.
Kieran held up his hand to silence his father. "I will gain what I want on my own, Da," he said softly. "I am not suited to your life. Willy is. I have no regrets, nor am I filled with any choler. Everything is as it should be, and the Devers bloodline will continue on at Mallow Court."
"You're so damned noble!" William Devers suddenly said angrily.
"Go to the devil, little brother," Kieran replied pleasantly.
"You don't have to marry someone you don't love!" came the petulant reply. "I do. My whole life has been mapped out for me!" He angrily smashed his crystal tumbler into the blazing fire.
Kieran Devers's dark green eyes narrowed with annoyance. He grasped his younger brother with one hand at his neckline, and yanked him forward so that they were face to face. "Listen to me, wee Willy," he said in a menacing voice, "you have nothing to complain about. You are heir to a fine estate, and bear an ancient respected name. You are to wed a girl you have known your entire life. A lass who is utterly devoted to you, and will make your life happy if you will but let her. What the hell is the matter with you? You don't want adventure, or excitement in your life for you are too much your mother's son. Now, hear me well, little brother. If you make Emily Anne's life miserable, I will personally beat you to a pulp. That girl comes to this house bringing her hopes and dreams. You will not destroy them!"
"Why should you care?" William sneered.
"I care because I so generously gave you all you have, and will have one day. If I should decide to become a Protestant, Willy, do you really believe Da would keep you on as his heir? A second son isn't usually as fortunate as you have been. All that could change in the blink of an eye should I will it, little brother. Even your formidable dear mama couldn't stop it. Now, accept your good fortune, and be kind to your cousin. You really don't deserve either Mallow Court or Emily Anne, for you are truly a callow youth. Try to change for all our sakes." He loosed his grip on his brother's shirt, and pushed him away.
William Devers stormed from the room, slamming the door behind him as he went.
Kieran laughed, and sat opposite his father. "I hope you will live a good long life, Da, for it is obvious our Willy isn't ready for all the responsibilities that you will pass on to him eventually." He gulped his whiskey, enjoying the satisfying warmth it spread through his veins.
"I intend living a very long life, laddie," Shane Devers replied. "I can see the youngster needs seasoning. Traveling with him was no joy, I can tell you. He did nothing but bemoan his loss of Lady Lindley. I wish to God the wench had never come to Ulster! She must be a witch to have such a hold over William. I do not understand it, Kieran."
"Fortune Lindley is exerting no hold over William, Da. It is all in his imagination, I fear. How in the name of God did my stepmother get him to agree to marry Emily Anne Elliot?"
"She told him he had no other choice since there was no other young woman of his acquaintance he fancied who would have him. She told him it was his duty to wed and sire another generation of Deverses for Mallow Court. You know your stepmother, Kieran. When she wants something she will not be denied. At first William resisted her, but when Mary and Bessie agreed with Jane, he could no longer fight against his obvious fate. Even I have to agree 'tis best for him."