The House

by A. O'Connor

  “But they spoke to me so appallingly. You have no idea. I know he is your cousin, and I’m sure he does manage the estate wonderfully for you. But I want them gone, Edward! I want them out of Hunter’s Farm. Find a position for them elsewhere away from us and our estate. I can’t stand them here anymore!”

  “But I can’t, darling.”

  “But why?” she was exasperated.

  His eyes were filled with desperation. “Because Sinclairis my heir. Sinclair and his son are next in line if we don’t have any children.”

  Anna stared at him before giving a low wounded groan that seemed to emerge from the pit of her stomach.

  “Why is this happening to us, Edward?”

  He shook his head sadly “I don’t know.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry, Edward, I’m so sorry!” She reached out and held him tightly.

  “In fact, I’m meeting with our solicitors next week,” he said, “to ensure everything is in place for the estate and title to pass through to Sinclair and his son, in the event anything should happen to me.”

  Chapter twenty-two

  As Christmas 1844 approached, the servants joyfully decorated the house with ivy, mistletoeand holly laden down with red berries. Walking through the house, Anna wished she could reflect their happiness. Georgina amongst others was coming to stay over the Christmas period. Anna would never have believed she would have dreaded a visit from her cousin. But here she was, wishing a letter would arrive from Georgina saying she couldn’t make it for one reason or another. Georgina would only hold up a mirror of Anna’s unhappiness to her, and magnify it further. Since their last altercation, Sinclair and Diana had kept out of her way. They rarely came to the house at all, let alone arrived in unannounced like they used to. But when she did cross their path, even though they were perfectly civil, they looked at her knowingly. Knowing that they were just playing a waiting game, and one day in the future it would be them and their son who would own and run everything. They were to be guests at the house on Christmas Day and she dreaded that as well.

  When Georgina and the others arrived on Christmas Eve, it seemed like a jolly house theywereentering. The fires were blazing, the brandy flowing, the parlour games stretched late into the night. Anna avoided being left alone in Georgina’s company. She was trying to postpone the inevitable fraught conversations that would ensue. And most importantly she wanted to avoid another confrontation like they’d had at Tullydere. Georgina’s solution to her problem made her feel ill and yet, like a nagging distant pain, that solution seemed to gnaw at her.

  On Christmas morning there was a light fall of snow. Anna sat up in bed and gazed out at the world outside. Edward was already up and ready. She rang the bell and the servants came in, with hot water in abig pitcher for washing and coal for the fire. With the fire blazing to heat up the room, Anna got up to wash and get ready for the day ahead. The carriages brought everyone down to the church in the estate village.

  Inside the church, Anna and Edward sat at the top of the church in the family pew, a family pew that seemed to stretch on for ever in its emptiness. She could see Sinclair and Diana in the congregation with Harry.

  As the choir sang ‘The Coventry Carol’, Anna looked at her husband, who seemed lost in his thoughts. He seemed to have the weight of the world on his shoulders. She looked up at the altar and prayed for forgiveness for what she was contemplating doing.

  At the dinner table, Sinclair and Diana made sure to sit at the very end of the table away from Anna. As the roast turkeys and roasted potatoes and vegetables were served, Anna put on an actof being a cheerful hostess, exuding high spirits and vivacity. The well-known philanderer Lord Browne was a guest as well, and tried to flirt with Anna as he always did.

  “Is it true what my husband tells me, Lord Browne, that you have engaged a Catholic solicitor?” asked Anna.

  “Indeed I have and why not? I wanted the best solicitor in Cork and that is what I have got, regardless of his religion.”

  “My father tells me many Catholics have joined the professional classes but I thought they really only tended to their own,” said Anna.

  “I’ve never known a solicitor to turn down money be it from Catholic, Protestant or even Jewish hands!” said Lord Browne, causing everyone at the table to laugh.

  “I think that you’re treading into dangerous territory, Lord Browne,” advised Sinclair suddenly from the end of the table. “It might be all very novel having Catholic solicitors or doctors, but we can’t concede any control to Catholics. Who knows where it might end if we encourage it?”

  Anna looked at Sinclair. “As ever, you are right, Sinclair. We have to be very careful of people who do not know their place.” She sipped from her red wine.

  Sinclair stared down at her. “And as we know a quirk of fate can change a person’s place and position very quickly,” he countered.

  Anna raised her glass and smiled broadly at Lord Browne. “Well, I thinkit’s very progressiveof you. In fact, we should do the same and get a Catholic solicitor. What do you think, Edward?”

  “I think I’m quite in favour of keeping the status quo, my dear. Catholics should know their place in the order things. Catholics in the professions can only cause problems. Look at what Daniel O’Connell did.”

  As the conversation continued Georgina leaned forward and whispered to Anna, “You’ve been avoiding me since I arrived.”

  Anna looked at her. “I know. I’m sorry. Let’s go for a walk after dinner.”

  She looked at Edward who seemed to be staring almost trance-like intothe crystal glass containing his burgundy wine.

  It was late afternoon on Christmas Day as Anna and Georgina walked out the front door. They were wrapped up in warm coats with bonnets, scarves and gloves. They walked across the forecourt and down the steps to the firstterrace. Down the sloping hill, the lake was frozen over near the shore and some of the guests had gone down and were ice-skating, their shouts of excitement carrying through the quiet countryside.

  Anna and Georgina turned off the terrace into the gardens and wandered along the pathways there.

  “Sinclair and Diana are the doting parents, aren’t they?” said Georgina as they walked past a fountain that was frozen over, with robins dancing around it.

  “Things have deteriorated considerably between me and Sinclair,” said Anna. “We hardly speakand he flaunts his power whenever he gets the opportunity.And I am powerless to get them out of our lives. They being our heirs.”

  “Without a child of your own.”

  Anna nodded. “Without a child of my own.”

  “Anna, you’re in a very precarious position, not only for yourself and Edward butfor the whole estate in the future. And what if something happens to Edward and Sinclair becomes the new Lord Armstrong? You’ll be completely at his mercy.”

  “I know. I lie awake at night worried sick about it.”

  They walked on in silence for a while before Georgina picked up the courage to speak. “Have you given any more thought to what I suggested to you at Tullydere? About having a child with someone else?”

  Anna didn’t speak for a while as they continued walking. The sun was setting and spreading an orange glow across the Christmas sky.

  “Yes, I have given it thought. I’ve been in turmoil over it. I don’t know if I could do it, Georgina.”

  Georgina grabbed her cousin and turned her around to face her. “You must! It’s your only way. Have another man’s child and pass it off as Edward’s.”

  “I just don’t think I could go through with it.”

  “Anna! This is a drastic situation you are in. And a drastic situation calls for drastic action. Sleep with another man and become pregnant.”

  “But who would I choose to father my child? Where would I start, how would I even suggest it?”

  “You don’t suggest it! You just do it!”

  “But with whom? Lord Browne? He’s ready and willing by the look of him. Is that what you are suggesting?
That I wander down to his room tonight and commit adultery with him in my husband’s house? Under my husband’s roof!”

  “I’ve been thinking about this, and no. You cannot risk having intercourse with Lord Browne, although I did consider him a suitable candidate. If you did that, you would be risking exposure. Men talk, and women get ruined. You can’tchoose Lord Browne or anybody else from our circles. I hear the rumours and scandals about people. If you were unfaithful to Edward with one of our own, you would live your life in the fear of exposure and ruin.”

  “So who do you suggest I choose then?” Anna asked, exasperated.

  “You have to look beyond our kind, our class. You must look to somebody that will never know who you are or who will never come into our circle. It’s the only way you and your child will be safe from exposure.”

  “I don’t understand. Who are you suggesting?”

  “A stranger. A Catholic. Somebody with no connection to you and from a different world to yours.”

  “A Catholic!” Anna nearly shouted. “You’ve definitely lost your mind, Georgina! I can’t have a child with a Catholic. Who are you suggesting? One of these doctors or solicitors we were discussing earlier?”

  “Not even them. There’s always a risk they will meet you one day and your ruse will be discovered. The most important thing is that this deception is never uncovered, because it would mean your ruin and Edward’s ruin.”

  “So what exactly are you suggesting?” demanded Anna.

  “A random man from a random town. Or from the countryside.”

  “A peasant!” Annawas horrified.

  “This will be your and Edward’s child, Anna. The real father is of little importance or consequence.”

  Chapter twenty-three

  With Georgina so certain of what had to be done, it was easier for Anna to leave the planning to her. Anna’s own mind was a whirlpool of confusion, worry and dread. Georgina was convinced this was the only way she and Edward could be saved. They met and corresponded regularly over the next months, as Georgina put her scheme together.

  “Listen to how the servants talk, especially to each other,” she advised. “Listen in to their conversations. You can’t go to a fair and talk in your normal accent as you’ll stand out. Learn and practise how the servants talk so you can fit in at the fair and talk to potential suitors.”

  “The fair?”

  “Yes. A fair. That would be a perfect occasion for you to meet a man. A fair brings people from all over. The town would be packed with strangers. But you’ll have to be sure Edward is out of the way, on business.”

  Anna felt only dread at the thought.

  The perfect opportunity came in April when the Easter Fair was being held in Castlewest. It was one of the biggest fairs of the year. And it happily coincided with Edward being away in Dublin on business. Georgina came to stay in his absence, as she put Anna through the final tutoring.

  “If anyone asks, you are a tenant farmer from the other side of the county and you are looking to buy a mare,” she said as they plotted in the drawing room on the eve of the fair. “The town will be packed with strangers, but do your research, look around. Try and select the most handsome man to ensure your child will have looks.”

  “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 theinnscan 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 Annaare visiting friends tomorrow. Can you ensure acarriage 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’snot 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.”

  Chapter twenty-four

  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 wasindeed 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.

  Annaswapped her bonnet for the black shawl, leaving the bonnet with Georgina who hid it under her own cloak. Then sheclimbed 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.

  Chapter twenty-five

  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: ayoung woman witha tray of oranges; a man with a stall ofplucked chickens; a stall further down the road withgeese. 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 alonehaving 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.