“God Almighty, Annie,” Dolly said,” I feel my head and neck tense up. And I feel sick again.”
“Darlin’ ye’ve got to calm yerself. Ye’re no good to anyone sick.”
“Let me get these plates ready, then. I need things to do.”
Dolly made sure the platters and baskets were filled with sausages, lamb chops, and bread. She kept coffee and hot water for tea at the ready for the hired girls to keep the buffet table full. She opened bottles of red wine from France that the Dadys had brought home from their summer holiday.
“Annie, I have to run to the lavatory. I’m gonna puke.”
She just made it to the toilet. When she finished, she heard a noise of voices from the other side of the house. I wonder if Liam has come home.
As she wiped her mouth with running water at the sink, Dolly heard the door open and close. She pleaded with God, please don’t let it be Mrs. Dady or worse, Mary. She turned to see Liam moving quickly to her, frightening her to yelp. They ran into each other’s arms. At once she knew he felt the protruding belly. He gazed at her. The face that had expressed joy as he came across the room was now full of astonishment and betrayal.
“Why the hell didn’t ye tell me, Dolly?”
“I wanted ye to finish school. By the time I found out, ye had less than three months to go.” Her eyes welled and overflowed. “Ye worked so hard.”
“Jesus.” He softened to her rapidly. “I can’t stay angry with ye. What’s done is done.” He kissed her and kneeled to kiss her big belly.
An obnoxious female voice came from the open laundry room door. “I’ll say what’s done is done. I guessed right, Liam. It is the pretty little housekeeper.”
Startled, both Liam and Dolly looked up to see a smirking Mary Tisdale, all decked out in her new crimson ball gown.
“Damn ye Mary, this is a private conversation. Get the hell out.”
Mary gave Liam a spoiled, indignant expression as she tried to stand her ground.
“Get out!” Liam yelled, walking with intention across the room. He took her roughly by the arm to escort her toward the kitchen.
“Unhand me, you barbarian,” Mary bellowed.
“Who do ye think ye are, ye spoiled brat? Ye think ye’re so civilized?” Liam's voice was soft but menacing as he moved her into the kitchen, Dolly right behind him.
Halfway across the kitchen, the swinging door burst open with Liam’s mother rushing in, Annie behind her.
“What’s all this noise at my party?” Mrs. Dady said. “What’s the meaning of this—rudeness?”
Mary Tisdale was ostensibly in her element. “What a situation I discovered back there in the laundry room. How clever of your son to be cavorting with the servants.” Her demeanor was nothing less than malicious. “And you thought I would make a good match. Why, I think he’s already made his own, Mrs. Dady. Your cleaning girl is pregnant.”
“What …who …?” Liam’s mother fumed.
Mary watched Liam’s mother with an arrogant, amused look on her face. “You were all out of my class, anyway,” Mary said, wielding the last humiliating blow to the elder Mrs. Dady. She turned and walked away.
“Just keep goin’ out the front door, Mary.” Liam’s words chased her out of the kitchen.
The swinging door wedged open somehow as Mary sashayed out of the room, red silk dress swishing in her triumph.
“I’ll be nothing but a laughing stock,” Liam’s mother murmured. Shock began to cross her face. It quickly turned to rage.
By now, all the guests were gawking through the opening in the door, murmuring amongst themselves excitedly.
Dolly heard someone say, “Has Liam married a Catholic housekeeper, behind his parents’ backs? She’s pregnant?”
“What is this?” Liam’s mother hollered with a guttural sound. “How could you, Liam? Right under my nose. You’re supposed to marry in your class.”
Dolly stepped forward and stood, not behind Liam as a servant anymore, but alongside, her six-month belly purposefully in full view. The people standing around the open kitchen door, looked rapt with the unfolding drama. Annie stepped to Liam’s other side.
Mrs. Dady’s rage was focused on Dolly. “How dare you come into my house thinking you could trap my wealthy son into marrying you by getting pregnant!”
“She didn’t trap me, Mother,” Liam said. “Her coming to work here was my idea. I fell in love with her completely on my own. I do have a brain, you know.”
“She wormed her way in, just when there was a suitable match found for you.”
“Do you mean Mary, that spoiled brat? She’s no match for me. I wouldn’t marry her. You're shallow and wrapped up in the pretense of high society, and so is she. That’s not for me. Besides, it wasn’t your choice to make.”
“Well, if you think I’m going to bless a union with a housekeeper, and a Catholic at that, you have another thing coming. No son of mine will ever marry a Catholic!”
“It’s too late, Mother. We were married last June.” Liam reached for Dolly’s hand and held out their two left hands with the silver wedding bands and Dolly’s topaz engagement ring.
“You lied to me, girl. You said you married a Catholic boy.”
“My name is Dolly, Mrs. Dady, not ‘girl’, and I didn’t lie about that. That he was Catholic,” Dolly said in a strong voice.
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“I converted to marry her, Mother.”
There was a collective audible gasp from the guests at the door.
Apparently, that was too much for Mrs. Dady. She collapsed to the floor, fainting dead away. Liam and two other guests picked her up and took her to her chaise in the parlor. She came to as Liam and Dolly waved smelling salts under her nose, and Annie put a small glass of brandy to her lips.
“OH! God in Heaven. All of you get away from me.” She flung her arms and hands at them. Then she turned on Annie. “You knew all along, didn’t you? How long have they been cavorting and carrying on under my nose?”
Annie straightened up. “That would be none of your business, Mrs. Dady.” Her voice was level and firm.
“How dare you,” Mrs. Dady growled through her teeth. “You are fired. And so are you, you little hussy,” she hissed, pointing her finger at Dolly. “And Liam, you are forbidden to see her, and we are getting the marriage annulled,” she said, spittle flying out of her mouth.
“You’ll do no such thing,” he said. “It’s not up to you. Besides, you’d have to take it up with the Pope, and he’ll probably not bother with what any man, or woman for that matter, can’t change once the vows are blessed. Catholics take marriage vows very seriously.” He took Dolly’s hand.
The elder Mrs. Dady made another weak attempt at arguing and accusing, but Liam raised his hand to stop her and turned away.
“Don’t you walk away from me,” Mrs. Dady cried.
“We’ve made previous arrangements, all of us, so we are able to leave on a moment’s notice,” Liam said. “It’ll take just a few minutes, and the three of us will be gone.” The argument was over.
Mrs. Dady began to wail.
As the three started to leave, Liam turned back. “Mother, stop. You’re only crying because your shallow games are over. All ye cared about was your station in society, and it has played itself out. Hasn’t it?”
As the three passed the stairs in the foyer, Liam looked up at his father, who had finally come out of hiding to face the guests. Mr. Dady stopped half way and addressed his son one last time. “You know you’re out of the will,” he said evenly.
Liam shrugged at his father. “It doesn’t matter.” He, Dolly, and Annie headed back to the kitchen.
Lord Pirrie stepped into the kitchen, following the three. “Let me offer you my carriage to take you wherever you need to go, Liam and ladies. It’s the least I can do. I’ve been in your shoes, believe it or not.”
“Thank you, Lord Pirrie,” Liam said. “I think we’ll take you up on that.�
��
The three of them put on their coats and grabbed their already-packed satchels and one last carpetbag.
“Allow me to tell you, before you go, what I said to your father, Liam.”
“Yes, what is it, Lord Pirrie?”
“I told him that he has been an excellent administrator at the firm, but a lousy father. He claimed you owed him, because he paid for your education under the agreement you’d work at the company. He says you lied to him.”
“He’s right on that account. I’ll send him his money.”
“I told him you owed him nothing. It was he who owed you, considering all these years of neglect and very little support growing up. In the days of aloof fathers, he took it to extremes. I told him he owed you your education to make something of yourself in the world. I said he was the only one that didn’t see the good man you’ve become.”
“Thank you, Lord Pirrie. I will always remember your efforts. I appreciate how you’ve taken a kind interest in me all these years. I also appreciated how you assisted my wife on her way home from Scotland last June.”
“Assisting your wife was my pleasure. You’ve got a wise and wonderful woman, Liam. Strong, too. Good luck in all you do. If you ever need anything …”
Dolly glanced at Lord Pirrie with a look of appreciation and respect as he exited the kitchen.
~~~
Late that night at Mary O’Brien’s house, Liam and Dolly were lying awake. Dolly had been inconsolable for hours as Liam held her, his body nestled against her back. It was near four in the morning when she finally cried herself out, exhausted.
“I’m sorry for everythin’,” she said at last, her voice hoarse from crying.
“Don’t ye dare be sorry,” he whispered firmly. “Ye haven’t done anythin’ except love me.”
Dolly seemed more peaceful at that and half smiled while placing Liam’s hand on her round belly. “I guess that’s true,” she said. Her nose was plugged and she sounded terribly tired.
He smiled at her little joke. Liam was exhausted, too, but that didn’t stop him from a strong sexual arousal toward her. She responded by putting his hand on her breasts, encouraging him to knead them as she sighed in relief and moaned in pleasure. She rolled to her back.
“Yer breasts are bigger. Firmer.” He leaned to kiss them through her night gown, propping himself on his elbow for better access. He reached down to bring up her nightgown to suckle her.
“Oh, God …” she whispered and pulled his head into her while pushing her breasts to his slippery tongue. “It feels good …” Her arousal was more intense than any time before, her moaning and breathing heavier. By now her legs were spread, and she pulled him on top of her, imploring him to come inside.
“I don’t want to hurt ye,” he said.
“Ye won’t if ye just stay off my belly. I want ye bad, Liam. Come, please,” she begged.
He couldn’t refuse. Perhaps it was the male response to his sense of virility that he had impregnated her that drove him to have her.
“If I start I won’t be able to stop,” he said.
She giggled quietly as he pushed gently inside her and tried to go as slow as possible. It didn’t work. He had not an ounce of control, but did manage to stay off her belly.
~~~
“Christ, I hope we didn’t wake anyone up. I know for certain the O’Brien’s gave us this squeaky bed for a laugh,” Liam joked. Dolly tried to stifle a snort. She was still quite congested from crying earlier. “Patrick is probably doubled up in his bed, listenin’ to us creak away.” Laughing made the bed jiggle with movement once again. Liam and Dolly resumed their spooning position. They fell asleep and slept for the next twelve hours straight.
When they awoke, Liam startled at Dolly’s surprised response to where she was. As they leaned back on the pillows, the events of the night before came back to them. The argument, the ruination of his mother’s prized Christmas party, and the scandalous return of the doctor-son.
Liam remembered first. “Happy Christmas, my love. It’s our first together.”
“Happy Christmas, Liam.” Dolly kissed him sweetly, and then grimaced.
She got up to use the chamber pot, breathing an exaggerated sigh of comfort at the relief in her bladder. It made him smile.
“Things are different for ye, inside yer body.”
“I have to pee constantly, and I’m hungry all the time.”
“How’s the hungry one different?”
They laughed.
“I didn’t get ye anythin’ for Christmas,” Dolly said, returning to the bed. It creaked obnoxiously. She raised her eyebrows and her green eyes smiled. “But I’m wide awake now.” She straddled him, leaning down to offer her breasts again. He accepted with alacrity.
“Ummm,” he uttered as he settled inside her. “My baby is my gift.”
She smiled and Liam rode the wave in his own sweet way, happily taking Dolly over the crest with him.
Liam smiled. “The bed squeaked mightily again.”
“I don’t care if the whole world heard us.”
Chapter 31
Several days later, Liam and Dolly went to visit Annie, who was now living at her widowed sister’s. Her sister's house was a five-minute walk from the O’Brien’s, in the same parish. It was a good arrangement. Annie’s sister Sadie had two children needing looking after when they came home from parochial school. Sadie worked at one of the dry goods stores in the neighborhood. Annie would be cooking for the church two nights a week—corned beef and cabbage night and ham dinner night—for a small stipend. She had been able to save quite a bit of money while she worked at the Dady’s and could live off the interest it earned each month. Liam set up an emigration account for her, which she would draw on when it was time for her to join them in America, in four to six months.
“I’ve got all our documents, including a passport and entry papers applied for,” Liam said. “I’ve made a list of everything you’ll be needing and where to go for it, for your passage, Annie.”
Liam and Dolly were sitting with Sadie, Annie, and Sadie's family for supper, roast saddle of mutton with all the trimmings. It was a bright house, but on the small side, just around the corner from the parish church and school. Sadie’s girls, eight and ten, were the spitting images of their mother and aunt, with auburn hair, freckles and pale blue eyes. They were Irish beauties, all of them. The two girls, Bridgette and Nancy, were extremely fond of Liam, pestering him until Sadie intervened.
“Pour Liam can’t get a bite in his mouth,” she said. “You two need to cease and desist, if ye know what’s good for ye.” Her voice matched her look of annoyance at the girls’ lack of etiquette.
“I tell ye what,” Liam said. “Once we’re finished at the table and clean-up’s done, and yer Mam says it’s all right, we can have a short wrestle on the parlor floor, just to get the wiggles out o’ ye. But we can’t break anythin’.”
Liam glanced at Sadie and got a go-ahead glance. Liam gave her an I’m-sorry shrug.
Annie addressed Dolly. “Have ye been well? Have ye seen the doctor again?”
“No, but I will see him before we go. And yes, I’ve been well, now that Liam is home for good.”
Months before, Annie had taken Dolly to the doctor just after she began to have morning sickness. The doctor gave her praise for how well she was eating, and he stated that overall, she was in good health. He told her that if she felt tired, to take a nap. If she felt hungry, eat. If she had any bleeding, come to see him, though he also said that bleeding could be a normal part of pregnancy. “Ye’re a tiny girl, a wee bit frail,” the doctor said. “Don't climb on ladders, hold on when goin’ up and down stairs, and don’t carry heavy objects.”
Now that Liam was home and they were gone from the Dady's, Dolly, in her ecstatically good mood, had inadvertently forgotten to let Liam in on that bit of medical information.
“I can see yer appetite is still goin’ strong.” Annie grinned as she teased Dolly. “Is th
at yer second, or third helpin’ of the meat and vegetables?”
Liam laughed.
“I wouldn’t laugh,” Annie quipped at Liam, giving him a sideways look. “You’ve been known to gorge yourself, and ye’ve never been pregnant.” Everyone laughed at the remark.
Dolly reflected in that moment that even though they had felt familiar and safe at the Dady's, it had been right to leave and start a new life. They had all been miserable living there. The only reason Annie had stayed on as long as she had was because of Liam and the neglectful state he was living in. Someone had to take care of him. Dolly had been the impetus, coming along at the exact right time.
Later that evening, Annie, Liam, and Dolly were drinking a last cup of tea, relaxing in Sadie’s parlor while Sadie put her girls to bed. It wasn't yet time to say goodnight, and they were enjoying the companionship and closeness they had shared at the Dady’s.
“Do ye believe in things happenin’ for a reason?” Annie asked. “That God throws ye a message to get out of the misery and rut ye’ve been in, ’cause ye don’t know any better, and He wants ye to be happier?” She paused. “I’ve been thinkin’ a lot lately about what came about since ye went out that birthday night, Liam. Two years ago, was it?” She stopped and looked at Dolly and Liam. “What I’m sayin’ is, what brought ye to that brothel, Liam? And there ye were, Dolly. From what ye said, Liam, ye wandered, not payin’ any attention to where ye were goin’. Ye met Dolly and less than two years later yer a doctor, for Christ’s sake. And Dolly, yer married to a doctor. Where were ye back then?”
“I know what yer sayin’, Annie,” Liam added. “Even though we may think we have control over our lives, perhaps there’s somethin’ bigger, a force that drives us.”
“Then perhaps we should pay closer attention to those messages when we need to be happier,” Dolly added mindfully. She put her hand on her belly. “But I don’t remember hearin’ anything. Things just happened, although I used to pray that someone would come along.”
They all sat silently, each seemingly in their own private reflection, sipping their tea.
Eva and the Irishman Page 32