The House (Armstrong House Series Book 1)

by A. O'Connor

  “What if the most handsome man has no interest in me?” questioned Anna.

  “Pursue him until he does! As the fair goes into the evening, there will be much drinking. From what I hear the inns can become dens of iniquity. Which although normally would be abhorrent, now suits your needs perfectly!”

  “Was ever a deception planned so meticulously and coldly?” asked Anna as she sank her head into her hands.

  Georgina got up and tugged the bell-pull. When Barton arrived, she instructed him to send in Seán.

  “Yes, my lady?” asked Seán when he arrived.

  “Seán, myself and Lady Anna are visiting friends tomorrow. Can you ensure a carriage is ready for us for noon?”

  “Yes, my lady. I’ll be ready.”

  “No, we won’t be requiring you. I’ll drive myself.”

  Seán looked uncomfortable. “But Lord Armstrong insists I drive Lady Anna everywhere and she’s not to travel alone.”

  “She won’t be alone. She’ll be with me.”

  “But –”

  “Will you shut up and get out and do what you’re told for once in your life!” snapped Georgina.

  Seán looked annoyed but he nodded and left the room.

  Anna remained seated on the sofa, staring out the window.

  “Really! I don’t know how you put up with that boy!” said Georgina. “He has no manners and thinks he can say what he wants. He’s very disobedient.”

  “He amuses Edward,” Anna said absentmindedly as she continued gazing out the window.

  “I will drive you to the fair tomorrow, and then we’ll organise a time and a place to rendezvous after and I’ll drive you home.”

  Anna turned and looked at Georgina. “And you really think it is that simple? That I can just come back here to the house and get on with my life and my marriage as normal after committing the most horrible act of adultery with some horse-trader?”

  “Yes. It’s as simple as you make it.”

  “And what if it doesn’t work, Georgina? What if, after having sexual relations with some stranger, I don’t end up pregnant?”

  “Then you keep going back again and again until you do become pregnant.”

  Anna sank her face into her hands. “I’m to be damned.”

  “And you will be damned if you don’t.”

  24

  On the morning of the fair a nervous Anna was surveying herself in the mirror. Georgina had taken a dress that belonged to one of the servants at Tullydere and now Anna was wearing it.

  “A perfect fit,” declared Georgina. “I judged the servant girl to be the same size as you and I was right.”

  Anna looked at herself in the attractive but cheap dress, so unlike the embroidered gowns made from silks and satins she normally wore. Georgina had brushed out her usually styled and curled chestnut-brown hair and now it was loose down her back.

  Georgina had also brought a black shawl from Tullydere and now she draped it over Anna’s head and stepped back.

  As she looked at herself in the mirror Anna did not recognise herself.

  “You look quite the peasant beauty,” declared Georgina, proud of the transformation she had effected. “You should attract a lot of attention and suitors at the fair today. Take them off now and we’ll hide them again until the time comes.”

  It was after lunch when Anna donned the servant’s dress again together with her usual bonnet. She and Georgina both wore long cloaks and Anna kept the black shawl hidden underneath hers.

  They hurriedly made their way through the house and out to the waiting carriage. Luckily they didn’t encounter any servants but Seán looked at them suspiciously as they stepped up into the carriage and Georgina took the reins.

  The journey into town seemed to last an eternity and no words passed between the women. Anna’s feeling of foreboding reached fever pitch as they reached the town which was indeed packed with people because of the fair. Neither the Armstrongs nor any of their friends came to town on fair day. It was known to be unpleasant with much overcrowding, drinking and fights breaking out. Georgina pulled up outside the main inn.

  “I’ll come back and collect you at midnight here outside this inn,” she said. “Now remember everything I told you and taught you. This will all be over soon and you will have everything you want. Just keep thinking of that.”

  “What have I agreed to?” asked Anna, unable to move.

  “Just go!” snapped Georgina.

  Anna swapped her bonnet for the black shawl, leaving the bonnet with Georgina who hid it under her own cloak. Then she climbed down from the carriage.

  She looked up at Georgina.

  “I’m going to be a fallen woman,” she said.

  “Better than being a childless one!” said Georgina and she snapped the reins against the horse and the carriage took off.

  As Anna watched the carriage disappear down the street she felt, for the first time in her life, utterly alone.

  25

  As Anna walked through the bustling streets of Castlewest, it was like she was invisible. She was used to people bowing to her when she went anywhere, moving out of her way as she walked through streets, opening doors for her. But nobody was doing that today. It struck her what a difference wearing some expensive materials made. How differently people acted towards her when they knew she was Lady Armstrong! She had taken it for granted. She was used to it all her life and it had not even crossed her mind before how it would feel to be treated any differently.

  She had never seen these people so close up before, wandering through them as one of them. The town was a hive of commercial activity, with everyone trading and selling: a young woman with a tray of oranges; a man with a stall of plucked chickens; a stall further down the road with geese. Everything was available, from ribbons to silks. There were animals being sold all along the street as well – sheep and cattle. She felt frightened but at the same time intrigued, as she watched the people go about their business.

  “Soda bread, Miss? Made by myself. You won’t get better here today,” coaxed a woman at a baker’s stall. Anna smiled and kept on walking. As she looked at the men she shuddered at the very thought of being anywhere near them, let alone having intercourse with them. She continued to search.

  It was some hours later that Anna came upon a large field behind the town where the horse-trading was taking place. She was weary, dispirited and frightened. She’d had brief flirtations with some reasonably presentable men but in each case she had soon withdrawn, her nerve failing her.

  She walked down through the field through the pens of animals. There was a lot of aggressive bartering going on here, and she could see these horse dealers were driving hard bargains.

  She passed a suckling pig being roasted over a giant fire. Gathered around it was a group that seemed to be drinking heavily and listening to some music being played by a small band.

  One of the men suddenly walked up beside her. “Looking for some company?” he leered at her.

  She took one look at his blackened teeth and nearly got sick. She ignored him and kept on walking.

  She suddenly saw a very good-looking dark-haired man selling ponies. He looked to be quite a showman, attracting a large crowd around him as he paraded his animals. She spent a long while watching him, as Georgina had advised, before making any decisions. The man seemed very strong and healthy, confident and smart.

  “About as good as it gets around here,” she whispered to herself. She couldn’t see any sign of a wife or woman around him and she eventually walked up to his compound and started looking at the ponies. There was a stallion kept apart from the others and she went over and began to stroke him.

  “See anything that takes your fancy, Miss?” the man asked as he approached her, smiling.

  “Em, yes. I like this one,” she said, indicating the stallion.

  “That one isn’t for sale, ma’am. That’s my own,” he said decisively. “But I’ve a filly over here that would suit you down to the g
round.”

  She needed to engage him in conversation, to get his attention.

  “No, I’ve looked at the others, and they are of no use to me. This is the one I want.”

  He looked at her, bemused. “And what would a girl like you need a horse like this for?”

  “I’ve twenty acres rented. And I need a horse that will plough my fields.”

  This seemed to get his interest. “Twenty acres. That’s a fairly big holding for a woman. I take it there’s no husband, or else he’d be the one buying the horse.”

  “I’ve no husband,” she said determinedly.

  “And where’s this twenty acres of yours and how did you get it?” he asked.

  “It’s the other side of the county, and I took over my father’s tenancy.”

  He was studying her now, taking her in. His expression seemed to show he liked what he saw.

  “As I said, ma’am, I can’t help ya. The horse isn’t for sale.”

  “You shouldn’t bring something to the fair if it’s not for sale,” she said.

  He looked at her and smirked. “I’ve brought the shirt on my back to the fair, but I’m not selling that either!” He was leaning towards her now, flirting.

  “You look like a man who would sell anything, if the price was right.” She moved closer to him, and smiled. “I really want that horse.”

  “You don’t take no for an answer easily, do ya?” he laughed.

  “Why don’t you let me buy you a drink and we can talk about it further,” she proposed.

  “Now that’s about the best offer I’ve had all day,” he smirked at her.

  He called a boy to keep an eye on his ponies, then they walked through the field and up into the town. Anna noticed some women were looking at him as they walked by and giving her nasty glares. He was obviously a man with some admirers.

  “What’s your name?” he asked as they sat down in the inn with two tankards of beer.

  “Ann,” she said.

  “I’m Clancy,” he said and shook her hand.

  Her heart was beating quickly. She had actually managed to get as far as drinking with a man who seemed quite suitable and who definitely was interested. She could hear Georgina’s voice in her head pushing her forward and forward.

  “So why has a pretty girl like you not got a husband to do her trading for her?” asked Clancy.

  “I like to do my own trading. Besides I haven’t met a man I wanted to marry yet.”

  He was looking her up and down. “I’m sure you’re not short of offers.”

  “I’m sure you’re not either,” she said. She leaned closer to him. “Why don’t you tell me all about yourself?”

  Clancy was arrogant, in a way a man who knew women came easy to him could be. She could tell he was used to these situations. His life was going from fair to fair trading his horses, and he probably had a woman in every town as well. In Clancy’s mind, Anna was just a new addition to his stable of girlfriends. And it all meant he was perfect for what she intended.

  They stayed at the inn for a long while, Clancy continuing to drink and order more drink. The inn was filling to capacity, the day’s trading was ending and everyone was settling into a night of partying and revelry to celebrate the day’s good fortune. Outside in the street Anna could hear music being played and much laughter and shouting. As the dark descended the town was getting a different atmosphere, one of merriment but also disorder. As she looked at the crowd in the inn beginning to fall around drunk, Anna longed for the night to be over and for her to be back in the safety and comfort of her house. Regardless of what Georgina had said, she would not do this again. It either worked this time or not at all. She would remain childless and put up with all that entailed.

  Clancy moved closer to her, put his hand on her leg and whispered, “Will me and you go for a walk?”

  She blinked a few times and then nodded. He smiled back at her, took her hand and stood up. They left the inn and walked through the streets of the town, his arm now tightly around her waist. The town was still packed with people. They were drinking in the streets, bonfires were roaring high and people were dancing around them as music was played loudly. There were screams and shouts of laughter and a woman crying loudly somewhere. The whole place was intoxicating and Anna felt her heart beat so fast she was frightened she would faint. Her head was spinning and the smells and atmosphere of the place were crowding in on her as Clancy led her down to the field where the horses were being traded. It was darker there away from the streets.

  Suddenly he grabbed her and she felt his mouth roughly descend on hers as he pushed her up against the wall and kissed her hard. One hand grabbed her breast while the other hand roamed roughly over her body and start to pull up her gown.

  Anna felt panicked as the reality of the situation hit her. “Oh, please no!” she begged.

  “What’s wrong with ya? This is what you were after from the moment you came up to me today!”

  He grabbed the back of her head and pulled her towards him, grinding his mouth on hers in his roughness.

  “No!” She tried to push him away. “I’ve changed my mind!”

  “No, you haven’t!” He laughed nastily and continued to pull up her dress.

  “Hey, Clancy!” There was a sudden shout behind him.

  Clancy seemed startled and, releasing Anna, he turned around. There was a group of men standing there looking at them.

  “What do you want?” demanded Clancy.

  “Hey, Clancy, where did you find the whore?” asked one of the men.

  “I found her in the same brothel your sister works in!” Clancy shouted back.

  “You’ve a smart mouth on you, Clancy!” spat the man.

  “What do you want?” demanded Clancy.

  “I want my money back for that nag you sold me that dropped dead on me the day after you sold it!”

  “I told you before. That horse was fine when I sold it to ya. And you won’t get a penny out of me.”

  “Somebody needs to teach you a lesson, Clancy.”

  “Well, it won’t be you, now get out of here!” Clancy said menacingly.

  The men started walking slowly towards them, and she could see they were holding blackthorn sticks. Anna couldn’t believe what was going on. Clancy suddenly let out a loud piercing whistle and within a few seconds there was a group of people rushing over to him. Anna stood behind Clancy, not knowing what else to do, until Clancy and his crowd began to walk cautiously towards the other group. She drew back and watched, mesmerised, as the two groups eyed each other up carefully. Then suddenly they launched at each other and started to fight viciously. Anna looked on in horror as the groups ferociously attacked each other, hitting each other with the sticks. She lost sight of Clancy as he was caught up in the middle of the battle. Suddenly hordes of people began to pour down to the field from the main street, joining in the fight, and a full-scale riot ensued.

  Anna realised it was a faction fight. She heard much about faction-fighting. How groups of people were feuding and would fight each other, usually at the end of fairs. She remembered herself and their friends talking in horrified terms about the peasants fighting each other without any regard for injury. Often many deaths resulted, and Anna realised she was in great danger and needed to get away from there as quickly as possible. She walked carefully through the fighters, trying to avoid them as much as possible, to try and get to the main street.

  Suddenly a woman appeared in front of Anna, her face a mask of hatred and viciousness.

  “You whore!” screamed the woman and smacked Anna across her face with the back of her hand.

  The force of the blow knocked Anna to the ground, and she lay there in shock as the fighting continued around her. She struggled to get up but she couldn’t. Everything around began to blur in front of her eyes and she felt she was about to pass out.

  Then suddenly she felt strong and comforting arms around her and she looked up to see it was Seán.

  �
��Seán,” she whispered. “Help me, please.”

  “It’s all right, Anna, I’ll get you away from here.”

  He picked her up in his arms and carried her quickly out of the field and into the main street.

  “You’re safe now,” he said, but when he looked down at her he realised she had fainted.

  26

  Anna opened her eyes and blinked a few times. She sat up quickly and started to panic as the memories of the fight came flooding back to her.

  “Hello?” she almost shouted in a panic.

  Suddenly Seán appeared beside her and said soothingly, “It’s all right, Lady Anna. You’re safe. You’re with me.”

  She felt relief and solace seeing Seán’s face and she remembered how he had rescued her and driven her away from the town in the pony and cart he had the use of to get about the estate. He had wrapped her in some tartan blankets and held her against him as he drove and she had fallen asleep from sheer exhaustion. She didn’t remember him carrying her from the cart which he must have done.