Another Man's Child

by Anne Bennett

  Norah knew there would be no dance for her or Celia that night, in fact Dan had told Celia he had an errand out that evening, which shouldn’t take long, and she was not to leave the house for any reason in his absence. Celia had just nodded and so Dan barked out, ‘You hear what I said?’

  ‘Yes, Daddy.’

  ‘And I have your word on that?’

  This time there was slight hesitation and then Celia nodded again. ‘Yes, you have my word.’

  Dan knew Celia wouldn’t break her word. In that way she had always been trustworthy and so he nodded, satisfied, as Peggy asked, ‘What errand have you to make?’

  ‘Ask me no questions and I will tell you no lies,’ Dan replied and Celia knew exactly who he was going to see and she regretted giving her word to him for she knew he was going to see Andy McCadden and she had no way of warning him. Dermot knew where he was going as well, but he’d been charged with secrecy so when Celia asked in an urgent whisper, ‘Has Daddy gone to see Andy tonight? Is that his errand?’ he shrugged and said, ‘Don’t know.’

  Later Tom went upstairs to change for he had to see the McCluskys, and Sinead in particular, and explain things and Dan went to him in the bedroom. ‘Don’t discuss this with Sinead and her family.’

  ‘I wouldn’t do that,’ Tom promised, knowing how much his father hated family business being told outside of the family. ‘I’ll think up some excuse to satisfy her and her parents, but I must tell her something. We’ll more than likely go for a walk then, for the evening’s a fine one. I couldn’t trust myself at the dance tonight anyway for if I saw McCadden I’d want to push my fist down his throat.’

  ‘I know,’ Dan said. ‘But there’ll be no need for any of that if he takes the money as I’m sure he will.’

  After his father had left to waylay McCadden, Dermot sidled into the scullery where the girls were washing up. He knew it was his only chance to talk to them, with Tom and his father out of the way and his mother washing Sammy and Ellie in the big tin bath in the kitchen, where they were making a lot of noise about it. He said to Celia, ‘I know why Daddy was so mad at you making eyes at McCadden.’

  ‘I was not making eyes at McCadden,’ Celia protested.

  ‘Ssh,’ Norah cautioned as Dermot said airily, ‘Oh you know what I mean and it was because he had someone already lined up for you.’

  ‘What did I tell you?’ Norah said, but Celia ignored her and said to Dermot, ‘Do you know who it was?’

  ‘You bet I do,’ Dermot said. ‘It was Johnnie Cassidy, old Johnnie Cassidy, and I tried telling Daddy he was too old for you and got my head bitten off.’

  Celia seemed too shocked to speak. She seemed unaware that her mouth was open and her lips pulled back in distaste as Norah cried, ‘I’ll say he’s too old. It’s almost obscene.’

  ‘I heard Daddy say that he’s twenty-three years older than you, Celia,’ Dermot said. ‘And he’s after a young wife that will bear him plenty of strong sons that will help him on the farm as he gets older.’

  ‘Yes,’ Norah said in clipped tones. ‘You’d have the body pulled out of you with a baby born every year and when your child-bearing years were gone you’d have an old, maybe senile man to care for as well as a houseful of children to cook for and clean after and you would be expected to help on the farm as well. If you married him, your life would effectively be over and you would be an old woman before you had a chance to be a young one.’

  Celia gave a shiver at the thought, but answered firmly enough. ‘That isn’t going to happen because I am not marrying that man. I barely know him, for heaven’s sake, and I have no wish to know a man old enough to be my father. I told Daddy I will only marry for love and I stick by that.’

  ‘When you said that to me I said Daddy might make life difficult for you,’ Norah warned.

  Celia tossed her titian curls with defiance, though her heart trembled at the thought of unleashing her father’s anger if she continued to stand against him. She still maintained though, ‘He can’t force me to marry someone I don’t want to marry.’

  ‘No,’ Norah conceded. ‘But what are you going to do?’

  ‘Why have I got to do anything?’ Celia asked.

  ‘Well I suppose you want to marry someday?’

  ‘Probably.’

  ‘Well who will it be?’ Norah asked. ‘And don’t say Andy McCadden because I think we can take Daddy’s reaction to mean he will never agree to that. And don’t think after this you will be let go to the dances any more to choose someone more suitable. When I go to America it will be worse.’

  ‘When I’m twenty-one I can do as I please,’ Celia said. ‘You said that.’

  Norah nodded. ‘It’s three years away,’ she said. ‘But if you stick it out you can marry who you like – even your hireling boy, if that’s who you want – but Daddy might say that he doesn’t want to see you again, might disown you if you do. Would you be prepared for that?’

  Celia gasped for she had never imagined being banished from her home and yet she could see it happening if her father was angry enough. Once he had made a decision that was that and he usually couldn’t be shifted, though Peggy could sometimes coax him into a more reasonable response.

  Celia loved her father and though she knew he was quite strict, it was what she was used to. His attitude to discipline had never affected her because she had given him no reason to censure her, for she had always done as she was told and until now had never answered back either.

  Dermot could say nothing, but he wished he could tell Norah that soon McCadden would be out of their lives, for he had no doubt that the man would accept the money his father would offer him and be on his way. Celia would undoubtedly be upset at first, but she would get over it and, with McCadden out of the way, she would be able to socialise more and meet suitable men, that weren’t in their dotage. Then their father might be willing to accept one of them as a son-in-law and Johnnie Cassidy would have to look elsewhere for a wife.

  However, he wouldn’t dare say any of this. He had said enough in telling them the name of the man their father had marked down for Celia and that had only been because he wanted her prepared.

  Suddenly, Celia said, ‘Everyone goes on about respecting our parents. But I don’t think it is respecting us very much, mapping out the only future we’ll have to the extent of even telling us who to marry, and like you said before, Norah, it’s usually for their good, not ours. Dermot, what will Daddy get if I was to marry Johnnie Cassidy?’

  Dermot gave an ironic grin as he said, ‘Two fallow fields and two pregnant cows.’

  Celia covered her face with her hands for the proposal was preposterous enough to be funny. ‘So that’s my bridal price,’ she said. ‘Two fields and two cows. Huh, I’d say he was getting me cheap. If I married him at eighteen I could easily give him a dozen children before I was totally worn out and I’d say a fair few of them would be the boys he craves.’

  ‘And he’ll get a nurse to tend him in his old age too,’ Norah said. ‘He wins hands down, I’d say.’

  ‘Well Daddy can do what he likes, but I won’t agree to that,’ Celia said almost fiercely. ‘Just at the moment I am happy as I am and I have no desire to marry anyone.’

  ‘Don’t blame you,’ Norah said. ‘And all I can advise you to do is stick to your guns.’

  FIVE

  Dan was late coming home that night, so late that Peggy was the only one up, for he’d gone to the McCluskys’ house after his meeting with McCadden, knowing Tom would be there. He was welcomed warmly for the two families were friends and might soon be related for, though Tom hadn’t proposed to Sinead, they all knew that it was only a matter of time till he did. There would be no obstacles to their marriage for Dan and Peggy thought the world of Sinead and her parents thought Tom a fine figure of a man, who could well provide for their daughter for he would inherit the farm. And so they sat and chatted easily together though they never discussed the problem of Celia forming an unsuitable relationship wi
th Andy McCadden until Tom and Dan had left the house and were on the road home. When Dan told his son what had transpired that evening Tom looked at him in amazement. ‘He refused the money?’

  Dan nodded his head. ‘He did. He said he was settled here, that he had a job he enjoyed and had no intention of moving just because his face didn’t fit with me.’

  ‘How much did you offer him?’

  ‘Fifteen pounds.’

  ‘God, Daddy, that’s a fortune,’ Tom said. ‘Not many people would pass that up.’

  ‘Well he did,’ Dan said. ‘Said if I offered him four times that amount he wouldn’t leave because he didn’t want to. Mind, don’t tell your mother this or I’ll never hear the end of it.’

  Tom smiled because his father spoke the truth. ‘I won’t say a word, never fear,’ he said. ‘But did McCadden say anything else?’

  ‘Oh, yes,’ Dan said. ‘When I told him to stay away from my daughter he said he meant her no harm, but they liked each other and at her age she should be able to choose friends for herself.’

  ‘Arrogant young pup,’ Tom said. ‘He certainly needs teaching a lesson.’

  ‘He’ll get one, don’t worry,’ Dan said. ‘But I’ve been thinking about this and I know in the long run I won’t be able to keep them apart if they are determined to meet. I can’t police Celia every hour of the day and if McCadden really won’t go from here nor agree not to see Celia, then for her own good Celia must go.’

  ‘Go?’ Tom repeated. ‘Go where?’

  ‘America,’ Dan said. ‘That’s far enough away to keep her out of his clutches. I just need to convince your mother that that is the only workable plan if we are to keep her safe.’

  Tom was quite shaken that his father proposed sending Celia away. Knowing how much his sister loved Ireland, and that she had never expressed any wish to go anywhere else, he had thought she would always be there, and he said, ‘Daddy, it’s one hell of a trek for Celia to make, especially as she won’t want to go, doesn’t want to leave Ireland really.’

  ‘Well if McCadden won’t do the decent thing and go from here and keep away from Celia then I have no choice but this,’ Dan said. ‘Maria will make certain she makes an advantageous marriage over there and to hell with whether she loves the man or not.’

  ‘What about Norah?’ Tom asked. ‘She has her heart set on America. Are they to go together?’

  ‘No,’ Dan said. ‘She will have to put aside any ridiculous idea of going to America now. She only has herself to blame for she colluded with Celia in this relationship. If she had told me in the beginning I could have nipped it in the bud before it got out of hand.’

  Tom knew his young sister would be devastated but knew it was no good saying that to his father and so he said, ‘Well I know one who’ll be pleased that Norah isn’t going to America anyway and that’s Joseph O’Leary.’

  ‘Well that’s another thing that does me no favours,’ Dan said. ‘For she treated that man disgracefully. His father spoke to me about it for when she told Joseph she was definitely going to America he was terribly cut up, because he said they were walking out together. He thought they had some sort of understanding.’

  ‘Aye, most people did.’

  ‘And then he finds she hadn’t taken it seriously at all. I mean, she made a complete fool of the man.’

  ‘Aye she has,’ Tom agreed. ‘I’ve felt sorry for him at times.’

  ‘Well if she’s staying here she will have to have him in the end,’ Dan said. ‘I’d say it will be Joseph O’Leary or no one, for none of the other men will likely have anything to do with her.’

  Tom shook his head. ‘They’ve seen the way she has treated Joseph and between you and me she is known as a tease. I didn’t bother taking her to task about it because I thought she would soon be off to America.’

  ‘Maybe even Joseph won’t want her after all.’

  ‘Oh he will,’ Tom said with assurance. ‘He’s mad about her still.’

  ‘We’ll say nothing to her about this now for I know she will be upset,’ Dan said as the farmhouse came into view and added, ‘One contrary daughter is enough to cope with just at the moment.’

  Tom took himself straight to bed when they arrived home and Dan was glad because he wanted to talk to Peggy on her own and he told her that he’d talked to McCadden whom he had met on the road. He said nothing of the money offered but did tell her of McCadden’s reaction when he’d asked him to keep away from Celia. Peggy could see the problem, but couldn’t immediately agree that the best solution was to send Celia away. She knew she wouldn’t want to go to America whereas Norah did, so both would be distraught. She also felt Celia was too young and naïve to cross the Atlantic all by herself. Norah, on the other hand, was older and more emotionally mature.

  ‘Couldn’t we let Celia marry this hireling man if she is so set on it and help them out with money and all till they’re on their feet?’

  ‘Oh so you would throw your daughter away like that, would you?’ Dan sneered contemptuously. ‘The man is a hired help and that’s all he will ever be. He will never be able to provide for Celia properly and I will be the laughing stock of the place, letting her throw her life away on the likes of him.’

  Peggy thought she would rather suffer the ridicule of the townsfolk than kiss Celia goodbye knowing she would never see her again. But she saw with a sinking heart that Dan’s mind was made up and she was used to giving way to him for it was the only thing to do and so when he said, ‘I want you to write directly to Maria and ask her to send the ticket as speedily as possible,’ she nodded her head and turned away so that he shouldn’t see her tears.

  The next morning Norah saw the letter addressed to her Aunt Maria in her mother’s hand and her heart sang for joy because she knew it was to ask her to send the ticket to America, where her life would really begin. Celia didn’t see the letter sent and did wonder what her father was going to do to her for he wasn’t one to let anything drop.

  Walking to Mass, Celia was flanked between her parents and neither spoke a word to her. She was allowed to speak to no one at all, either before or after Mass, and though she was aware of Andy McCadden sitting across the aisle, next to Mr and Mrs Fitzgerald, she kept her head lowered.

  Andy had seen Celia’s white face though and her saddened eyes, but didn’t know if there was any way of easing the situation for her and for the first time he wondered if it would be better to leave as her father asked him to. He didn’t want the money and the only reason he would consider leaving was if it would make life easier for Celia. It would hurt like hell, but it was obvious she wouldn’t be allowed to even acknowledge him and he could only guess what the situation was like at home. Maybe he should just take off and that might at least give her a chance to find some other man that her irascible father might accept more readily. However, just the thought of leaving and settling someplace else and never seeing Celia again caused his heart to miss a beat and his stomach to give a sickening lurch. He told himself firmly he hadn’t to think of himself but Celia; he had to give her the chance of a future of sorts and he imagined his heart would mend in time.

  Dermot watched Andy McCadden’s face and wondered what he was still doing there, for he thought he’d be well gone. He concluded in the end that he probably hadn’t wanted to leave Dinny Fitzgerald in the lurch and so had agreed to stay on for a while until he got someone else. Still, he would be gone soon, he thought with relief, and life would return to normal and his father would not be going round constantly like a bear with a very sore head.

  There was no conversation as Dan marched his wife and daughter home that morning and an almost silent breakfast was over before he said, ‘You will wash up now with Norah and then you will be locked in your room until dinner. No one will fetch and carry for you so you can come down for meals and help Norah to clear away afterwards, but that is all. The rest of the time you will be locked in your room.’

  Norah looked at her sister’s stricken face and sho
t her a look of sympathy as Celia faced her father and said, ‘How long for? You can’t keep me locked up for ever.’

  Dan gave a growl of anger. ‘Don’t you tell me what I can and can’t do,’ he said. ‘You’ll push me too far, my girl. I’m angry enough at the moment to give you the whipping you deserve and if you annoy me further I might do just that.’

  Looking at her father’s face, Celia knew he meant every word and thought it best to keep quiet – for now.

  The worst thing about being incarcerated was the boredom. Peggy brought her work box up on Monday morning and a pile of mending and said she might as well make herself useful. Celia wouldn’t have minded any amount of mending if she’d had company, but they’d all been forbidden to talk to her and that more than anything drained her spirit. After nearly a week of this she was a changed person. She had no hope for the future and as one day followed another she lost all interest in life outside her room, and although she could see spring, her favourite season, unfolding in the farm beyond her windows, it seemed to have nothing to do with her.

  She lost any interest in food for she found it hard to eat. Family meals were conducted almost in silence for even Ellie and Sammy, both picking up the atmosphere, seemed constrained and didn’t chatter as they used to; any conversation attempt seemed awkward and strained. Celia would feel her parents’ reproach that lay heavy on her heart. Her father’s every remark to her was delivered in a cold, curt way and although her mother’s voice was softer, her sighs and the sorrowful look in her eyes made Celia feel guilty for she knew she had caused her mother to be so sad. Norah felt immensely sorry for her sister for she hated to see her suffer so and knew she would be glad when the ticket arrived and she was on her way. Every time she thought of that frissons of excitement ran down her spine, which she tried to hide from Celia, for no such thrilling future was beckoning her.

  Dan had decided that he and Tom would collar McCadden on his way to the dance on Saturday and teach him a lesson and so Tom headed up to Sinead’s house on Friday evening as he doubted he would be seeing her on Saturday. It was much later, as he was on his way back, that he met Joseph O’Leary, also making for his home, and he saw straight away that the man had had a skinful, a state he had got into a number of times since Norah had told him she was definitely going to America.