see? Much as you don’t want to face it, I shall be gone soon. The girls will marry and be gone, too. So what is there for you to come back to? Timothy Murphy and his fishing boats? No, Evleen. You, with your beauty, your warmth and wit and charm were made for better things.”
“But Ireland is my home,” cried Evleen. “I want to come back. I want—”
“Men will adore you in England.” Sinead gripped her daughter’s arms. “Listen to me. There’s nothing for you here, child. Nothing except poverty, and want, and a marriage with a man you could never love. I know what’s best for you, and I know you must make a fine marriage in England. Just don’t do anything foolish. Always listen to your head, not your heart and you’ll do fine.”
Still shaken from her mother’s astonishing turn-around, Evleen asked, “What if I don’t find a rich and titled Englishman?”
With an amused smile, Sinead answered, “You will. Promise me you will. Before I die, I want to know your future is secure. It’s what I want for you more than anything else in this world.”
A thousand objections crossed Evleen’s mind, but one thing she knew: she could never deny her mother. “I... suppose. Yes, I promise I shall try.”
Sinead shaded her eyes and looked down the road. “Ah, speaking of Timothy, here he comes to say goodbye.”
* * *
In the lower corner of the garden, Timothy, resentful and confused, looked down on Evleen, his brows pulled together in an affronted frown. “I cannot see why you are doing this,” he said.
“It’s for Patrick,” Evleen informed him for at least the third time. She felt terrible. Timothy had dressed in his Sunday finest to come and say goodbye. He looked his very best in his grey frize coat, linen shirt with the collar fastened by a black ribbon, corduroy trousers with a bunch of ribbons floating at the knee. She wished with all her heart he would understand, but so far, nothing she said seemed to penetrate. “I must go with Patrick. He’s too young to go alone.”
“Ah, Evleen, why must you go so far away?”
Why wouldn’t he listen? “It’s not so very far—only across the Irish Sea to Holyhead, then we take a coach to London, and then another to Hertfordshire, near Hatfield, to an estate called Aldershire Manor.”
“Names I never heard of.”
“But you will. I shall write as often as I can.”
“But when shall we be married?”
This was going to be hard, but with her future as uncertain as it was, she knew she must be truthful. “We are not betrothed, Timothy. It would be unfair of me to promise I’ll marry you, when the future is so unsure.” There, she’d said it. She expected he’d be deeply hurt, but to her surprise, Timothy didn’t appear wounded in the least. It was if he hadn’t heard her.
“I’m buying another fishing boat,” he said, “and by the time you return I’ll have built our new house.”
“Didn’t you hear me?”
Before Timothy could answer, Mama called, “Evleen, are you ready?”
“In a moment, Mama.” Evleen gazed up at Timothy and thought how strange it was that now she was leaving she felt fonder of him than she ever had before. And he did look handsome in his Sunday clothes. “I must go, Timothy. I pray you understand.”
“Kiss me goodbye.” As Timothy pulled her into his arms, she felt self-conscious. This was no time to be pulling back, but despite herself, she sneaked a glance to where Lord Thomas had been hitching the two bays to the curricle. Good. His back was practically to her and he was examining the harness, not paying the least attention. Timothy’s arms encircled her. She raised herself on tiptoe and brushed her lips across his.
“Sure and you can do better than that.” He crushed her against him and brought his lips hard against hers. They swayed for a long moment. She felt a ringing in her head until finally he let her go.
“Oh,” she said, quite surprised. In the few times they’d kissed, he had never been this passionate before.
Timothy stepped away and looked down on her, his honest face shadowed with concern. “You won’t forget me now.” He cast a resentful glance at Lord Thomas. “And promise you’ll be careful of Himself over there. I don’t trust the man any farther than I could throw that fine carriage of his.”
Timothy was bound to be jealous, Evleen thought, and hastened to reassure him. “The