He stared at her blankly and then, turning his horse, spurred away from them.
"You were hard on him," Kieran said softly.
"Should I have been otherwise?" Fortune replied.
"Nay. You knew just what had to be done, and you did it," he told her. "I miss you, sweetheart!"
"And I you, but you had best follow your brother lest he grow suspicious. I will see you in a fortnight at the wedding." She turned Thunder about and rode off. She didn't look back. She didn't dare. The longing for Kieran had overwhelmed her when she had first seen him riding towards her. It was only in afterthought that she had noticed Will. Until today she had felt pity for him. Now, however, she felt irritation. William Devers was a fool. Her parents had refused his suit. He had spent a summer away from Ulster so he might forget. He had returned supposedly ready to wed his cousin. Poor girl, Fortune thought.
But to everyone's delight William Devers greeted his bride-to-be enthusiastically when she arrived a week before their wedding. She was a pretty young woman, just turned sixteen, with a round, sweet face, and large blue eyes. Her strawberry-blond hair was styled in bunches of corkscrew curls that bobbed about her face. She had a straight little nose, and a cupid's bow of a mouth. Her skin was the peaches and cream tone so currently in fashion. William kissed her heartily upon the lips, and left her blushing.
"Ohh, William!" she managed to gasp.
"Welcome home, dearest Emily," he greeted her, and taking her by the arm led her into the house.
"What has caused this turn?" Shane Devers murmured to his eldest son.
"We ran into Lady Lindley several days ago out riding. Will made a perfect fool of himself, and she gave him a tongue-lashing the like of which I have never heard. I believe the words fool and bore were used several times, Da. She left him absolutely no maneuvering room, or any doubt that she didn't love him, never loved him, or ever could love him. She shattered his dream entirely, and I believe it brought him to his senses rather abruptly. He was quite surprised, for you know he has harbored this boyish infatuation for months now."
"Thank God!" Sir Shane said softly. "Your stepmother has been hell to live with of late because she has been in fear that William would cry off at the last moment. She wants this marriage, and always has. She was only willing to give it up for Maguire's Ford, but once she met Lady Lindley, she saw an enemy who could actually take William from her, and was relieved to have her son turned down."
"But she still covets Maguire's Ford," Kieran said.
"Aye," his father admitted.
"They say Lady Leslie is dividing it between her two younger Leslie sons, who are both staunch Protestants. They are already here from Scotland, I have heard," Kieran told his father. "I expect we will meet them at the wedding."
"Yer stepmother knows," Shane Devers replied. "She is hoping that William will impregnate Emily with a daughter first. Then she hopes to match that child to one of the Leslie lads. If she cannot have all of Maguire's Ford, she is willing to settle for a half."
"I stand in awe of your wife, sir," Kieran Devers responded.
"As we all do," his father replied dryly. "As we all do. Praise God this wedding is but a few days hence. I do not think I can stand much more of this tarah, laddie."
Kieran chuckled. He knew just how his father felt for he felt the same way, although for different reasons. But six days after his brother wed Emily Anne Elliot, he would marry Lady Fortune Lindley in the ancient church at Maguire's Ford. He longed for that day. He had thought the Leslies overcautious regarding his wedding to Fortune. He had wanted to share his happiness with at least his father, but today he had seen that they were right. William's infatuation for Fortune made it impossible. He didn't trust his brother now, for despite the severe put-down he had received, Kieran suspected Willy still harbored feelings for Fortune Lindley. His attitude toward young Emily was only partially sincere. When William Devers learned that his older brother, Kieran, had married the woman he secretly coveted, all hell could break loose. He would have to wait until Willy was safely off on his wedding trip to Dublin before saying a word.
Still, he suddenly found the need to speak with someone, and so he rode to the north edge of the village of Lisnaskea to see his father's longtime mistress, Molly Fitzgerald, and his two half-sisters. Molly's home was always referred to as a cottage, but it was in actuality a fine brick house that Shane Devers had built for his mistress. Molly's old servant, Biddy, opened the door when he knocked, and seeing him her face broke into a wide smile.
"Master Kieran, and 'tis it truly you now? Come in, come in! The mistress will be happy to see you, and so will yer sisters." She ushered him into the front salon where a good peat fire was burning in the fireplace. "Ye know where the whiskey is, Master Kieran. I'll go and fetch the mistress." She bustled out.
He poured himself a whiskey, swallowing it down, for the ride had been chilly. Hearing the door to the salon open he turned with a smile. "Molly, you will forgive me calling unannounced."
"Always, Kieran Devers, always," she said in her husky voice. She was a truly beautiful woman with thick dark hair, and warm amber eyes. "The lasses have missed you, but I am told you ride with the English girl at Erne Rock, and meet often at Black Colm's Hall."
He laughed. "I had thought we were being discreet, Molly," he said. "Thank God no one has gossiped aloud lest I be in a great deal of trouble at home. You know she turned Willy down. Well, she didn't turn me down. Father Butler will marry us on the fifth of October."
"And your father doesn't know?" Molly looked concerned.
"How can I say anything right now?" Kieran replied. "William still fancies himself in love with her although she gave him a severe set-down the other day when we met out riding. He now pretends he is content with his cousin, but I know Willy. He still harbors passions for Fortune. We didn't want to spoil my brother's wedding by announcing our betrothal. I'll tell Da when Willy and Emily are safe off on their wedding trip to Dublin. If Da wants to come to our wedding we'll be glad to see him. If not, then we'll still be married."
"I trust your sisters and I will be invited," Molly Fitzgerald said quietly. She took his hand in hers and led him to an upholstered settle by the fire.
"Of course!" he said, sitting by her side.
"So, Kieran Devers, you'll be the master of Erne Rock and Maguire's Ford," she said. "Her ladyship won't like that, I fear."
"Nay, Moll, I'll not have either Erne Rock or Maguire's Ford. Fortune's mother understands the situation here in Ulster. She knows if she gave the estate to Fortune, and I married her, that my stepmother and brother would cause all kinds of difficulty, trying to take those lands away from me because I remain a Catholic. Instead she has arranged for her two youngest sons, Protestants both, to have Maguire's Ford. Fortune and I will not be remaining in Ulster. We'll go to England first, and then to the New World. The duchess says there is a gentleman, high in the king's favor, who is founding a colony for Catholics and others who suffer persecution, in the New World. We will go there to start our new life together."
"The duke and duchess don't object to you marrying their lass? I had heard they were strange people; and they say she is a foreigner with a servant who wears a funny white pudding of a hat on his head. Is it all true then, Kieran?"
He chuckled. "The funny hat is called a turban. Adali is half-French, and half-Indian. The duchess was born a princess in another land, and is the daughter of a great king. She came to England when she was sixteen, and has lived here ever since. She's very beautiful, and very kind. Her husband is a decent gentleman who adores her. Fortune is a daughter of her second marriage. The duchess was widowed twice before she wed the duke of Glenkirk. She has seven living children. Does that satisfy your curiosity, Molly-O?"