by A. O'Connor
Inside the house, life went on much the same as normal. There were certainly cutbacks in the parties and lavish lifestyle that was normally enjoyed, as there was in all the Big Houses. But as Anna sat in her bedroom in the late stages of pregnancy, looking out at the thick snow across the countryside, she could not help but feel overjoyed at the coming birth of her baby. The suffering of those outside the house, beyond the estate, could not diminish her own happiness.
Chapter thirty-two
Anna went into labour one evening at the end of January 1846. The doctor was on standby and rushed to the house when the time arrived. Edward paced anxiously in the drawing room.
“Congratulations, Lord Edward,” said the doctor the next morning as he came in to him. “You have a son.”
“Can I see them?” Edward asked.
“You can,” consented the doctor.
Edward rushed out of the room, up the stairs and into the bedroom, where he found Anna with the baby nestling in her arms.
“Your son and heir,” said Anna as Edward gently took the baby into his arms.
As Edward cradled the child, he could hardly believe it. After nearly six long years yearning for a child, he finally had a son.
Edward bent over and kissed Anna.
Their son, Viscount Lawrence, was to be christened at the beginning of March in the church in the village on the estate. Invitations went far and wide. Mindful of the hardship people were suffering, Edward and Anna decided that the reception would not be as extravagant as it would normally have been, but they still planned a sumptuous banquet at the house to mark their child’s baptism. As Lawrence was christened in the church Anna was overjoyed to see goodwill on everyone’s faces. Her thrilled father and brother and sisters and their families were all there from Dublin. All her cousins from Tullydere were there, including Georgina. Georginahad barely spoken two words to her since she arrived, their once inseparable closeness now gone. Sinclair and Diana did not even bother to try and look happy, their disappointment plainly written across their faces. Anna thought it funny but, now she had her son, she no longer cared about Sinclair and Diana. They were no longer a threat to her.
After the church, the congregation filed out to the carriages waiting on the green. Anna noticed thatnone of the locals and their children were waiting there to cheer them. But, as she spotted a few children across the green looking thin and dishevelled, she quickly realised they had more to worry about with the failed crops.Everyone quickly made their ways to their carriages. As Anna stepped up to her carriage, she spotted Seán standing alone across the green staring at her. She got a fright to see him there. His stare unnerved her. She quickly got into the carriage and held Lawrence close to her as they took off back to the house.
Anna’s father was in conversation with Edward and a group of the other men in the ballroom as the banquet was being served later in the day.
“On the journey from Dublin, I witnessed first-hand what the people are going through,” said Anna’s father. “There seems to be a lot of people begging on the roads. It’s very pitiful.”
“Some landlords just evicted their tenants when they couldn’t pay their rent,” said Edward.
“They now are destitute. I’m in London next week in Parliament and I’m going to bring the situation up as a matter of urgency. We need funds to supply food to these people.”
“Please do,” said another landlord who had travelled from the south for the christening. “Things are desperate on our estate. And we have no money, with our mortgage, to give out any charity to the tenants. And the local town is in chaos with displaced people. I’ve had to forbid my wife to go near the place anymore.”
“Any help from London will be much appreciated until the harvest comes in this summer,” agreed Edward.
Anna cut into their circle, smiling. “Gentlemen, I forbid anymore talk of this terrible blight today. This is our son’s christening and I want you all to enjoy the day as much as you can. Reality will be there for you all tomorrow, but today is a day for joy.”
Her father leaned forward and kissed her. “Indeed it is. And where is little Lawrence?”
“He was tired and so I put him to sleep in the nursery. I’d better go and check on him.”
She smiled and walked through the crowd of people out to the hall and up the stairs. Even being parted from her son for an hour was too much. Sometimes she would just sit beside his cot and stare athim for hours as he slept. She opened the nursery door and entered the room, closing the door behind her.
She turned and was shocked to see Georgina standing over the baby’s cot.
“Georgina! What are you doing here? Why aren’t you down enjoying yourself with everyone else?”
“I just wanted to see him close up. There’s been so many people crowded around him that I couldn’t get a proper look. Disappointing, considering how close we were, I should be shut out like this.”
“You haven’t been shut out, Georgina.”
“I haven’t heard from you in months.”
“Well, things have been hectic here what with the pregnancy and then the crops failing.”
“Of course . . .” Georgina looked down at Lawrence and studied him. “He doesn’t look much like you, does he?”
“I think he has my eyes,” Anna said.
“No, he hasn’t . . . and he doesn’t look much like Edward either.”
“That’s a matter of opinion.”
“Babies are always supposed to look like their fathers in the first few months of their lives. It’s nature’s way of telling the father that this is his child, to form the bond.”
“I don’t believe that old wives’ tale. As much as every parent thinks their child is remarkable and unique, the reality is they all have two eyes, a nose and a mouth and all look very much the same.”
“Oh, I always see a likeness between the baby and the parent. And as I said there is no likeness between Lawrence and Edward.” She looked up and stared at Anna. “However, he does look very much like Seán.” She reached into the cot and touched the baby’s fine blonde hair.
Anna felt sick as she looked at her. “What are you talking about, Georgina?”
“You can fool everyone else, but you can’t fool me. You forget I was a party to all this, it was my suggestion.”
“Georgina, I now think madness can be added to your other liabilities.”
“During the riot at that fair, nine months before you gave birth, you said Seán rescued you. Looking at this child, I think he did more than that. Looking at his child here in front of me.”
Anna became angry. “I don’t think it’s such a good idea you visit here again, Georgina. I don’t want you in my house anymore.”
“Really?”
“No, I have to put up with you today, but I think you should head back to Tullydere tomorrow first thing.”
“Well, I’mreliant on my brother and his wife for transport, so I can only leave when they choose to.”
Anna leaned forward and almost shouted, “I’ll arrange for my own carriage to take you to Tullydere, if it gets rid of you any sooner!”
The baby started to cry.
“Look what you’ve done now! You’ve woken Seán’s baby,” said Georgina.
“I want you to get out of here!” shouted Anna. “Get away from my baby. Get out of my house. You’re not welcome back here again. And I pity poor Joannawho has to put up with you under her roof!”
“Very well, I’ll go,” said Georgina.
Anna reached down for Lawrence and, taking him in her arms, started to soothe him.
As Georgina walked slowly to the door she said, “You can lie to me, Anna. You can lie to Edward. You can lie to everybody else. But you can’t lie to yourself.”
Anna waited until Georgina had left before she broke down crying, holding the baby tightly to her.
Chapter thirty-three
Edward was holding Lawrence and showing him the new rocking horse that had just been delivered to
the nursery that morning. It was the latest in a long line of toys he had bought for Lawrence.
“Edward! He’s only a baby, he’s much too young for a rocking horse,” Anna pointed out.
“What matter? I want his nursery to be filled with beautiful toys so all his earliest memories are good ones.”
“You’ll spoil that child, Edward,” scolded Anna, hiding her delight that he did.
“Isn’t that what he’s there for? To be spoiled.” Edward cradled Lawrence and kissed his forehead. “And I’m going to spoil him every day of his life. When it comes to him having his first real horse, he will have the very best one I can find. And when he goes to school, he will have the best education money can buy. Many gentry are sending their sons to England now for school and university, bypassing Dublin altogether.”
“Don’t let my father hear you saying that,” warned Anna. “He would see that as an indication of Ireland being left behind due to direct rule from London, and our class looking more to England for guidance than to ourselves.”
“And when it comes to Lawrence getting married, well, he will marry a real princess, because he is a little prince.”
“You do talk silly, Edward,” said Anna, but couldn’t help from smiling broadly at the two of them together.
It was after lunch and Anna had just put Lawrence down for an afternoon sleep and retired to the drawing room to write some letters when she heard shouting in the hall. Edward was out on estate business and, wondering what the commotion was, she headed out to the hall.
She got a fright to see Seán there, at the entrance to the servants’ quarters at the back of the hall, being physically restrained by Barton.
“What is going on here?” demanded Anna.
“I’m sorry, my lady, but he asked to see you and when I refused he stormed past me and up here,” Barton said, continuing to try and hold Seán.
“What do you want?” Anna demanded of Seán, appalled.
“I want to speak to you. And I won’t stop until I do!” shouted Seán, finally managing to break free of Barton and running into the centre of the hall.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Barton. “Have you lost your mind, man? You’ll be in serious trouble over this.”
“I either say what I have to say here in front of him and the others when they arrive, or we talk privately,” warned Seán, staring defiantly at Anna.
“Come into the drawing room,” said Anna, turning and re-entering the room.
“But Lady Anna!” objected Barton.
“It’s fine, Barton. I will take care of this,” Anna assured him, holding open the door for Seán.
He walked slowly in and she closed the door after them.
“What do you mean by barging in here like this?” demanded Anna, walking past him and sitting down on one of the couches.
“I had to! It’s the only way I could get to speak to you! They wouldn’t let me see you every time I asked.”
“What could we possibly have to say to each other?”
“Plenty!”
“Well , you have my attention, so say it and stop wasting any more of my time!”
He stared at her for a long time. She couldn’t hold his gaze and quickly got up and walked over to the fireplace. “Well? What do you want?”
“My son!” he shouted.
She felt her whole body shiver with fright. “What areyou talking about?”
“Little Lawrence. He’s mine. I know it, and you know it.”
“I don’t know what game or prank you are playing, but I’m warning you to stop right now! Goodness, you were always impertinent, but now you are just insane!”
“I’ve seen him! I’ve seen our son, I know he’s mine.”
She got a further shock with this declaration. “How have you seen him?”
“You forget I know this house better than you do. I worked on the building of it. I know every back stairs and door in the place. I came through the servants’ quarters and made my way up to the nursery without anyone seeing me . . . I held him and everything.”
Anna was terrified on hearing this, terrified for her son’s safety and what could have happened. She was determined not to show her terror.
“You’rebeing ridiculous and I want you to leave.”
“Ridiculous? Nine months to the day that we were together, you give birth toLawrence and he looks like me?”
“We were together?” Anna said the words derisorily and laughed mockingly.
“Oh, so you pretending that didn’t happen as well, are ya? Why not? If you’re living in fantasy land, you might as well let your fantasies take over.”
Anna crossed over to the writing desk and sat down “I’m rather tired of this charade. But you are being a nuisance.” She fingered the gold locket containing a watch that hung around her neck. It had been a first anniversary present from Edward and he had imported it from Russia. She took it off and held it out to Seán. “Here take this. It’s worth a small fortune. Take it and leave, and I never want to see you again.”
He walked over to her angrily. “You can’t buy me off! Who do you think you are?”
She looked at him sternly but dismissively. “I’m Lady Armstrong, Seán. Mistress of this house. Mistress of the eight thousand acres that surround this house. Wife of Lord Edward Armstrong. And our child, Lawrence, will one day be master of all this as well. The question is – who do you think you are? You’re nothing and nobody. You’re a cottierwho leases four acres of failed crops from my husband. And you come in here demanding – I don’t know, what are you demanding, Seán?”
“I know how important family is. And it doesn’t matter what you and your husband have. The child is mine and he deserves to be with his father.”
Anna felt an overwhelming instinct to hit him.
“Seán! Lawrence will be brought up in a different universe from you. You will have nothing in common! You are from different sides of society. See reality for what it is.” She handed out the locket again. “Take what I’m offering you, Seán. It will be your only chance in life to do something different, to get somewhere. You’re intelligent andbright. You don’t belong in the town with the people I saw that day, fighting and carousing. You’re softer and sensitive. You see people for what they are. You could go to America with what I’m offering you. Start again over there with some money behind you . . .”
“No!”
“Is it not enough? If you want I’ll go right now to my room and get more. I have diamonds and emeralds –”
“The only way I’ll take that jewellery . . . is if you and Lawrence come with me. We can start together away from here. Go to America, as you said.”
“Me go with you! Seán, it’s you who is living in fantasy land! I wouldn’t go across the street with you, let alone across the Atlantic! Leave the husband I love, and my title and position? For what? A peasant boy I have nothing in common with. I feel sick at the thought of it.”
“You didn’t feel sick when you came into my bed that night, did ya?I won’t take a penny from you! But I will get my son. Whatever it takes. He will know me and I will be a part ofhis life. Lord Edward is a good man, and he will see the injustice of this when I tell him the truth!”
“He wouldn’t believe a word of it, you fool!” she hissed.
“We’ll just have to see.” Seán turned and stormed out of the room.
It was only when he was gone that Anna began to shake.
Chapter thirty-four
Anna viewed herself in the mirror and saw she was frighteningly pale. She had locked herself in her room for the rest of the day to try and think things through.
She had never allowed herself to begin to think of Seán being the father, because she feared all that would entail. She could lie to herself for ever, and never listen to the truth in her heart. But now with Seán rampaging about mouthing off, he was a loose cannon. The reality was that even if he told the world the truth, nobody would ever believe him. It would be unthinkable
to everybody. But what put her in danger was that Georgina knew as well. If Georgina her cousin would ever verifythat what Seán was saying was true, then Anna would be ruined, and so would her husband and son. And in Georgina she had turned an ally into an enemy.
She could not leave this loose cannon unchecked. Also, it had scared her that he had got to the nursery and heldLawrence. If Seán was so determined to claim his son, what would stop him from one day trying to kidnap her child? She couldn’t trust him anymore. She needed him off the estate so that he would not be able to access Lawrence, or her, again. She knew what she must do. She would get rid of Seán, so she, Edward and Lawrence could live their lives in happiness and without any fear.
She took off the Russian watch-locket from around her neck and held it tightly.
Anna raced her horse across the estate to the area of Knockmora where Seán’s cottage was. It was the afternoon and he was at the stables working. As she approached the cottage she looked around to make sure there was nobody about and then jumped off the horse and walked up to the door. She pushed open the door and stepped into the cottage.
“Hello?” she called out.
When there was no reply she closed the door behind her and quickly checked out a good hiding place. She took a chair and stood on it and reaching up to the top of the dresser, placed the pendent there. Then she quickly left the cottage, mounted her horse and raced back to Armstrong House.
“Are you alright, my dear, you seem quiet this evening?” Edward asked as they sat in the drawing room.
“Yes – well, no. I’m so silly – I appear to have lost my gold locket. The watch-locket from Russia that you gave me.”
“You? Lose a locket? Or anything for that matter! I don’t think so!” said Edward, alarmed. He had never known his wife to misplace anything. She was far too exact.